Flawed policy on testing drives schools to cheat
- Rev. Jesse Jackson says recent test altering practices has far-reaching causes, effects
- He says Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind measure student success by tests
- He says this unfairly targets teachers; good test grades don't always reflect good education
- Jackson: It encourages cheating; students, teachers ill-served by testing system
Editor's note: The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
(CNN) -- The recent disclosure of test altering practices across Atlanta's public school system has turned the spotlight on a national crisis. Instances of grade changing and test tampering have also been reported across the country in cities such as Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Washington.
These revelations shake the very framework of civil rights initiatives dating back to Brown v. Board of Education. The needed focus on closing the achievement gap for the poor and students of color is giving way to reliance on test scores and metrics that often have little bearing on educational achievement.
The Obama administration's approach to public education, which has placed a higher value on competition for dollars rather than the premium of competence, has caused many educators to seek