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Objectives:
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The action should not contribute to the misrepresentation or
falsification of information [Iowa Administrative Code, Chapter
25, Standard III(e)].
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The action should not be perceived by students, parents, or
the community as being dishonest.
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The action should not result in a violation of district policy
or copyright (e.g., an illegal act).
| Standard III of IAC Chapter 25 |
| 25.3 (3) Standard III.
... misrepresentation, falsification of information. Violation of this standard includes:
| e. |
Falsifying or deliberately misrepresenting or omitting material information regarding the evaluation of students or personnel, including improper administration of any standardized tests, including, but not limited to,
changing test answers,
providing test answers,
copying or teaching identified test items, or
using inappropriate accommodations or modifications for such tests.
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What does it mean to “misrepresent” a student’s
achievement? In the context of the Iowa Tests, misrepresentation
results from reporting scores that are not an accurate reflection
of student learning as it relates to the areas covered by the tests.
The examples listed in Standard III are the most obvious types of
actions leading to the misrepresentation of student achievement,
but there are many other less obvious actions. These less obvious
actions can be identified when determining if Criterion #2 has been
satisfied (i.e., score meaning & use).
Negative consequences associated
with using activities that violate academic ethics include:
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Parents/community might question the integrity of the teacher/school.
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Parents/community might lose confidence in the teacher/school,
doubting the trustworthiness and sincerity of future actions.
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Students might start to question the teacher’s/school’s
trust in their ability.
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Students might believe that “cheating” is an appropriate
practice.
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Teachers or administrators might be suspended, fired, and/or
have their license revoked.
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Teacher/school could be sued by the test publisher for violation
of copyright.
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School/district is classified by the Department of Education
as being “in need of assistance” (i.e., placed on
the SINA & DINA lists) because inaccurate scores were reported.
Do these types of things really happen? You bet … …
… consider some of these examples taken from newspapers around
the nation.
| Type
of Action |
Real Examples from
the Headlines |
| Changing
test answers
|
Obvious:
Principal told the teachers to correct student’s wrong answers.
(Education Week, November 13, 1996)
Not so obvious:
After the allotted time for testing, a teacher told students to fill in answers for questions they had left blank.
(St Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30, 2005)
Note. By allowing additional time the teacher has given students the opportunity to “answer” questions that would have been scored incorrect due to being left blank.
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| Providing
test answers
|
Obvious:
Teachers prompted students with hand signals and pointed to answers.
(St Louis Post-Dispatch, May 24, 2005)
Not so obvious:
Teachers signaled students by tapping them on their shoulders to let them know an answer was wrong.
(The Huston Chronicle, May 5, 2005)
Principal instructed teachers to encourage children to retry specific questions if the teachers thought the children knew the answer but had missed it on their first try.
(St Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2006)
|
| Copying or teaching
identified test items |
Obvious:
Curriculum coordinator improperly kept copies of previous exams, and allowed teachers to copy some of them and use them for practice. The so-called “previous exam” was the same version of the test that was subsequently administered to the students.
(Education Week, November 13, 1996)
Not so obvious:
Teachers reviewed tests in advance and tailored their instruction to match specific questions.
(Education Week, November 5, 2003)
Teacher took notes based on the test administered last year and created worksheets for her pupils for this year’s test. She also shared the worksheet with other teachers. Some of these other teachers, not knowing the origin of the questions on the worksheet, alerted the principal to similarities between the worksheets and this year’s test.
(The Baltimore Sun, March 28, 2006)
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| Using inappropriate
accommodations or modifications |
Reading test was read aloud to students, resulting in the performance for these students being treated as “non-proficient,” regardless of their scores, due to the use of inappropriate accommodations.
(Education Week, October 22, 2003) |
In some of these cases, teachers unknowingly used questions from
the same test that was to be administered. If you don’t know
that the questions would be the same, does that make it OK? No,
when it comes to the law, ignorance is not an acceptable basis for
pardon. Although the intent behind the actions was probably different,
the outcome was the same—the scores misrepresent student learning.
The educator’s lack of knowledge might lighten the sanctions,
but it has limited value towards mending the teacher’s/school’s
lost integrity. In addition, due to the fact that the scores no
longer are an accurate reflection of student learning, not only
has an opportunity to help students in need been lost, but also
the school and district will now be treated as a “school in
need of assistance” (SINA).
Although teachers should be expected to question the source of
materials made available to them for test preparation, additional
directives are also needed. One simple solution to making sure that
students are not exposed to the test questions in advance of testing
is to simply state that no ITBS/ITED test materials should
ever be used with students prior to them taking the test “for
real,” or even afterwards. This admonition, however, can carry
more weight if educators are aware of particular features of the
Iowa Tests that can turn good intentions into very negative outcomes.
Important features of the ITBS/ITED and how these
tests are used in Iowa
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There are two different versions of the ITBS and ITED that are currently being used in Iowa—Forms A and B.
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The test questions on each form of the test never change. The
exact same test booklets are used again.
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These two forms are used alternately in consecutive years. That
is, if Form A was administered last year then Form B will be administered
this year, and Form A will be administered again next year.
- On each form of the tests there are items that overlap between
adjacent grade levels.
The ITBS and ITED are designed to find
out what all types of students know and are able to do. Consequently,
the collection of tests across grade levels is developed so
that some of the exact same questions are asked of students
at adjacent grade levels. For example, some of the questions
on the tests designed for grade 4 are also on the tests designed
for grade 3, and another set of questions on the grade 4 tests
will also be on the tests for grade 5. By having these “overlapping” questions it is possible to more accurately distinguish the
achievement level of students performing above or below grade
level. This overlap is illustrated in the following figure
for a given test form. (No questions on Form A are also on
Form B, or vice versa.)
So what’s the big deal?
Tests are reused every other year. Thus, both Forms A and B are
“live” test forms and should never be used for
practicing with students.
Even if you think you are using last year’s test for practice,
it is easy to make mistakes and to use the same exact test that
will be administered to your students this year.
If last year’s test is used this year for practice (which
would be a violation of copyright), the same students will see
about half of these exact same questions next year when they take
the test at the next grade level. For example, if you used the
fourth-grade test from last year (using the above illustration,
this test would be comprised of questions from Sets B and C) with
this years fourth graders, next year when these same students
take the test in fifth grade they would already have been exposed
to about half of the questions—those in Set C. The extent
to which this previous exposure assists students in obtaining
a higher score next year, contributes to the misrepresentation
of achievement.
Let’s now turn to a real-life example to illustrate how good
intentions and lack of understanding resulted in a very troublesome
situation … … …
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(Duration: 1 min., File size: 1.54 MB)
The Washington Post, February 24, 2002
Amy, the chair of the math department routinely looked
at tests in advance to “extract concepts”—to
check that she had taught what her students would be tested
on. She said that she considered it common practice, a way
to make sure her kids had a fair chance to look good.
A few days after the test booklets arrived, the test
coordinator (who was also the assistant principal) gave Amy
the math portion of the test and told her to “look at
them and then lock them away.” Amy subsequently made
copies of the questions and distributed them to other teachers
during a math department meeting, giving the same advice:
“Look them over, then lock them away.”
On the morning of the test, one of the students raised
his hand and told the test proctor “I’ve done
these questions in math class.”
Upon investigation, it was determined that one of
the math teachers had been absent the day that Amy had distributed
the test copies and said that he obtained them from another
teacher. That colleague had sat through the meeting but said
she was not paying close enough attention. Both of these teachers
gave the test questions to students for practice, and both
said that they thought they were using routine test-preparation
materials. |
What was the outcome?
| Fired: |
Assistant principal |
| Suspended: |
Amy, the teacher who distributed the copies (5 years)
Teachers (two) who used the materials as test preparation (1
year)
Principal (temporarily) |
| Thrown out: |
Test scores |
What is the lesson to be learned?
What about copyright issues? Does the “fair
use” allowance for educational purposes in the copyright law
make it OK to use questions from copyrighted tests? No!
The copyright statement for the Iowa Tests includes the following
guidance:
These tests contain questions that are to be used solely
for testing purposes. No test items can be disclosed or used
for any other reason. By accepting delivery of or using these
tests, the recipient acknowledges responsibility for maintaining
such security that is required by professional standards and
applicable state and local policies and regulations governing
proper use of tests and for complying with federal copyright
law which prohibits unauthorized reproduction and use of copyrighted
test materials.
If items from any of the Iowa Tests are used
to prepare students for testing, it is very likely that the students’
scores will no longer be an accurate representation of their achievement.
In addition, it is possible that The University of Iowa (the copyright
holder) and/or The Riverside Publishing Company (the publisher)
might seek damages for copyright infringement. According to the
Association for Test Publishers (www.testpublishers.org/copyrightFAQ/htm),
the penalties for copyright infringement may include both civil
and criminal penalties, with civil remedies consisting of an award
of monetary damages (statutory, up to $100,000, or actual damages),
attorney fees, injunctive relief against future infringement, and
the impounding and destruction of copies and equipment used to make
the copies.
For example, Educational Testing Service (ETS) sued a former teacher
for purportedly distributing “unreleased” forms of the
SAT (i.e., forms that were not explicitly made available
for public consumption) for “practice” (Newsday,
April 8, 2004). The outcome of this suit has not been publicized.
| Time for reflection and/or interaction:
Do you have (or have access to) any copies of the Iowa Tests (old or current)?
If so, how are you using them? What should be done with them? |
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