An Indianapolis TV station conducted a survey with a disturbing result that cheating by teachers on standardized tests mmight be more common that previoulsy realized. It didn't take long for an apologist to speak up:
Teachers' anxiety over their students' performance on the tests may play a role, an Indiana State Teachers Association official told WTHR.
"I think when you push for competition in a school setting where we're all supposed to be heading towards the same goal, when you change that dynamic and you put so much pressure on schools and force them to compete -- literally compete against each other -- teachers feel tremendous pressure," said Theresa Meredith, an elementary school teacher and vice president of ISTA. "I do not condone cheating in any way, but there is tremendous pressure."
That's crap. It doesn't matter how much pressure there is; there are people who cheat and people who don't. Ambient circumstances might make the cheaters more or less inclined to cheat at a given moment, but they are who they are. Forgiving them because there is something to cheat on and a reward for cheating and not getting caught is like blaming me because I provided a house full of stuff for the burglar to take.
This isn't meant, by the way, as a defense of the increased reliance on standardized tests in education -- that's a separate debate, and I think the critics make some good points. But denigrating the idea of competition because -- omigod! -- some people cheat when they compete is not one of them.
