TEMPTATIONS FOR TEACHER CHEATING MAY GROW

Measures are in place to keep students and teachers honest when taking state or national assessment exams, but in the end the burden is on the individual to decide whether to cheat.

"We provide guidelines to all school districts for administration of the tests," said Jim Morris, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. "Ultimately, it's the districts' responsibility, because we can't monitor 2,000 school buildings from here."

School officials said they are aware of cases around the country where teachers or administrators have supplied students the answers to standardized tests.

In the last year, several cases linked to standardized tests across the country have led to rescheduled tests, teacher firings and even indictments.

And within the past week, the principal of a high-scoring Maryland elementary school has quit and two teachers one from the Potomac, Md., school and another from Reston, Va. were suspended after pupils told their parents that adults gave them test questions or guided them to correct answers.

But Dr. Dan Steska, Cape Girardeau schools superintendent, said he doesn't believe the problem is widespread. However, increasing pressure on school districts to improve test scores could cause some educators to make bad decisions.

Awards, punishments and publicity are increasing the pressure on teachers to produce higher scores, even if a school is doing well, he said.

"I think any time pressure is brought to bear on people in any situation, it's going to reveal some weaknesses," said Steska. "I think there is significantly increased pressure on schools, administrators, and classroom teachers for students to do well because your school accreditation is, to a large extent, based on your achievement scores."

The makeup of the various Missouri Assessment Program exams do not make it easy to cheat on the test.

The state began administering the test several years ago to judge students' abilities to apply what they've learned.

The majority of MAP exams in every subject area including physical education require students to show their work and explain the process they used to arrive at an answer.

The exam also includes a small multiple-choice section that teachers could give the answers to students fairly easily, Steska said.

The exams are graded by trained readers who have very specific guidelines as well as a little latitude in their deriving scores.

"It would be harder to cheat on that type of a test," said Steska.

The state department includes a detailed list of security measures when delivering MAP test booklets to school districts. Administrators are told to lock up the booklets and prevent advanced copies from being distributed.

In addition, the state department has designated MAP facilitators working throughout the state to help districts deliver tests to students. As part of the job, they may unexpectedly drop in on schools to see how the testing process is going, Morris said.

"I think they are at least asking the questions regarding what type of security is in place," he said.

Steska said most teachers would not be willing to help students cheat on a test because then they wouldn't be able to measure how effective they have been as educators.

Besides, he said, the costs of being caught in that situation would be humiliating and lasting for everyone involved.

"One cost is you really haven't benefited students because you don't have a clear picture of their abilities," Steska said. "Personally, I think that most teachers are honorable educators and really want to know how their students have done in terms of state standards."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.