When incentives are incentives to cheat.

Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that the NYC principal who was removed from her job for changing students’ grades and giving course credit to failing students was retained by the NYC public schools as an “Achievement Coach?” (See New York Times article.) That seems like a stretch. Apparently she will still be paid a principal’s salary “but will no longer be eligible for a $25,000 performance bonus like the one she earned in 2009.” Well, that’s a relief.

I’m not even going to bother being outraged (or even surprised) that this principal wasn’t fired, that the NY schools chancellor seemed to think this wasn’t a very big deal. Let the NYC parents get upset about that. I’m more concerned about the lesson to be learned by those who push financial incentives for higher test scores. This type of thing – tweaking scores or massaging grades or “misapplying grading policies” or, let’s be real, cheating – is going to become tempting as the stakes get higher and higher. Perhaps you’ve heard about the cheating scandal recently coming to light in some Pennsylvania public schools? Or what about Atlanta? Desperate people, in desperate times, will do desperate things to keep their jobs.

Of course, another irony is the fact that incentives like bonus pay have been shown to have ZERO effect on student performance. (Click here and here.) But lawmakers don’t want to hear that. The public doesn’t want to hear it. It’s easier for them if the answer is simply to reward educators for higher test scores.

Seems pretty clear to me that this is not going to end well…

Update: There's a new story today on the NY Times website, reporting that allegations of cheating and grade tampering in the NYC public schools have tripled since 2002. Yep, expect to see more and more stories like this...

RHS on CBS news: high-tech cheating

Some Ridgewood High School students were featured in a story on CBS News yesterday. The topic was high tech cheating -- students using cell phones or the internet to cheat. A recent study was released that said half of all students reported they had cheated using electronic means -- copying from the internet, texting answers during tests, taking cell phone photos of tests.

I'm curious how much parents are talking to their kids about cheating. I'm all for technology and access to information, but along with this new power comes the responsibility to be very explicit about what is and is not OK. I think all kids should automatically know that texting the answers to a friend during a test is wrong, but they get a little confused when it comes to internet research. Back in the old days (remember when?), if you were going to copy something, it required a lot of writing, or photocopying (and then writing or typing). But with the internet and the ability to copy-and-paste, it's just too easy. The words -- exactly what I was going to say! -- are right there in front of me!

I think we parents can't assume that kids know when they are plagiarizing and when they are being lazy (and plagiarizing). We need to sit down at the computer and show them.

Any other thoughts out there?

To watch the short report from CBS News, click here.