Editor's Note: D. Barbara McWhite grew up in York County, S.C., and lives in Orange Park, Fla., with her husband and cat. Her columns is published on this website each Tuesday. Opinions expressed are solely her own.

***

Much is being said these days about the Atlanta teaching scandal, where some teachers have been forced to resign amid allegations that they changed students’ answers on standardized tests in efforts to boost pass rates.

As the truth behind the scandal begins to seep out, many are blaming the cheating on pressures on teachers and administration to improve test scores in order to avoid punitive actions up to and including termination.

According to reports, faculty and teachers whose students scored within acceptable parameters were rewarded with cash bonuses and promotions. Teachers whose students performed poorly were put on performance action plans, leading to possible dismissal.

I, like many others, am embarrassed and outraged that teachers would actually change students’ answers to achieve desired scores. What happened to integrity and personal responsibility? Why were so many teachers willing to sell themselves and their students short by falsifying tests that are designed to measure student retention, thus allowing for identification of deficits and remediation where needed?

While I say "shame on you" to Atlanta teachers for their abdication of integrity, I also say shame on the school system that, in part, created it.

It is recognized in education that the single-best indicator of student academic success is the social class of the parents and the economic status of the communities in which students reside. While economic status does not solely determine academic success or failure, it is understood to be the greatest determining factor.

To ask teachers to go into economically disadvantaged schools and achieve the same test results as those who teach students from more affluent communities is ridiculous. And to use test scores as a litmus tests for teacher effectiveness, thus determining teacher pay and bonuses, is unfair to those who teach student from predominately low-income communities.

If we applied the same guidelines to other jobs, we would begin to see how unfair this practice is.

Teachers working with economically disadvantaged students are like doctors working in trauma centers. There is nothing wrong with the minds of the people you are trying to help, but many will arrive with deficits and wounds that are more serious than those found in other units of a hospital. To say that the death rate on trauma units should be the same as on other units and to hold the doctors responsible to achieve that would, no doubt, cause then to lie about those numbers.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has joined the ranks of many others (including many in my own state of Florida) in imposing this unfair teacher assessment system.

Instead of punishing teachers who sign on to teach in what are often chaotic academic environments by withholding pay, maybe bonuses should be used as incentives to attract good teachers who can lend their experience and expertise to our most needy students.

And as with doctors, monetary incentives would be used to induce the best and most experienced teachers, encouraging them to stay longer and bringing with them a wealth of tools and techniques that could be used to save young minds.

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter below

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement