Pencils, Bubble Sheets, and Erasures
After yet another investigation into alleged cheating on DC Public Schools' student achievement tests, DCPS officials yesterday announced that they were tossing out the standardized test scores for three classrooms. If one reads between the lines, it appears that the current action was based on allegations that someone altered the beloved bubble tests after the students took the exam.
This follows on the heels of similar allegations in Atlanta last year, which forced the resignation of long-time Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall. And, of course, this isn't the first time that DCPS has investigated alleged altering of the bubble sheets on its exams. The same charges were levied just a few years ago.
For the past few years, we have heard EdSec Arne Duncan rail against the dreaded "bubble test." And while the good EdSec may be taking issue with such exams for a very different reason, he is correct. The days of No.2 pencils and scanned bubble sheets should be over.
With a growing chorus of opposition to bubble tests, with allegations of cheating on said tests on the rise, and