The game show of standardized testing. It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much. Teachers are cheating. But they are not the only ones. Scandals are breaking out in California, Chicago, New York, Maryland, Georgia, and other places we don't know about.
Some schools stop teaching content weeks before tests.
Instead, class time is spent taking practice tests. Some teachers advise students that when the two-minute warning is given, they should fill in B on every question they have not yet answered. Some teachers, while proctoring the real thing, nudge students toward right answers or offer whispered reminders. Because the latest moves toward accountability in the classroom hang on test scores. A failing school fails because of a number that supposedly reveals what the school is or is not accomplishing.