New York state moves to deter cheating on standardized tests

From The New York Times: Teachers in New York State will be banned from grading their own students’ state standardized tests, a Board of Regents committee has decided. The ban, which will go into effect in the 2012-13 school year for all elementary school, middle school and high school standardized exams, will reverse a practice that State Education Department officials say is inappropriate in an era when student test scores are used to evaluate teachers and principals. It is also a move to avoid the kind of cheating scandals that have erupted in cities such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

EARLIER...

SEPTEMBER 2011...From The New York Times: New York State education officials have said erasure analysis of standardized tests was something they could not afford and did not do. Yet officials have revealed that the State Education Department has quietly been conducting erasure analysis on some high school Regents exams for more than three years, a process that red-flagged 64 incidences of possible problems. Earlier....From Pro Publica: In light of test cheating scandals in Atlanta and elsewhere, some states are becoming more aggressive in trying to detect cheaters. Florida and Illinois instituted new, more rigorous screenings for statewide tests this year. But Californiais one of many states that do not look for evidence of cheating -- such as erasing answers -- on standardized tests. RELATED...from The New York Times: A New York State Board of Regents committee has authorized an independent investigator to look at how the State Education Department handles complaints of cheating. Several experts on testing say New York has a long way to go to be in line with what leading states are doing to prevent educators from tampering with tests