School test cheating rooted in centralization

Lindsey Burke

is an education policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation

About 178 Atlanta schoolteachers have been implicated in a highly publicized cheating scandal, involving almost half of the district's public schools. Allegations of cheating have also surfaced in Philadelphia and other districts across the country.

While many have been quick to point a finger at tests, the real culprit is the pressure created by the politicization and centralization of education.

Central planning doesn't work, and education is no exception. As the federal role in education has ballooned over the last 45 years, teachers and administrators have become increasingly focused on the demands that come attached to the money coming from Washington. The $50 billion spent by the Department of Education each year is filtered through well over 100 programs, each with its own reporting requirements, and each with pages upon pages of regulations.

This means teachers' focus is on providing data to the Department of Education, instead of information to parents about their child's performance in school.

The federal role in education has been growing dramatically since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. But the act's eighth reauthorization - No Child Left Behind - for the first time prescribed how often and in what subjects states would be required to test students.

Moreover, NCLB requires that all students be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014, a fast-approaching deadline. And schools are feeling the federal heat. For those who fall short, sanctions will be imposed by the Department of Education.

Tests are a good tool when used to provide accountability in the right direction - to parents and taxpayers, not to bureaucrats in Washington. It's the latter misdirection of accountability that creates the perverse incentives we're seeing at work in the cheating scandals.

For an example of tests and accountability put to proper use, look to Florida. Florida has rigorous state tests tied to a transparent grading system for schools and districts, and it has seen more progress than any other state at increasing academic achievement for all students while narrowing achievement gaps.