{"id":793,"date":"2009-01-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chisnell.www216-119-142-248.a2hosted.com\/chizblog\/?p=793"},"modified":"2017-08-08T04:38:25","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T04:38:25","slug":"testing-our-ethic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/testing-our-ethic\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing Our Ethic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following post was first printed as part of the Briggs-Chisnell project, a dialogue on issues of education and literacy.<\/span> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be in an uproar. Ethics have fallen in our society. Kids these days are apathetic and don\u2019t care. No matter what we teach them, it is seen as irrelevant.<\/p>\n

The recent \u201c2008 Report Card on the Ethics of America\u2019s Youth\u201d by the Josephson Institute<\/a> is getting wide press amongst educators, many eager to defend the behavior of teens. Sixty-four percent of students admitted to cheating on a test in the past year; over a third have plagiarized by using the internet. Yet 93% said they were satisfied with their ethics and 77% said they were better than most people they know. More than a quarter even said they lied on the survey questions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see statistical anomalies in a study like this (how could 77% be better than most<\/em>, for instance), but I\u2019m curious about what cheating must mean to students who do it and yet are satisfied with their characters. I\u2019d like to hypothesize about a rationale: to many, the content of testing is irrelevant. [And, for that matter, so are surveys on ethics to about a quarter of them.]<\/p>\n

We talk a lot about \u201chigh stakes\u201d testing, about ACTs and MMEs and SATs and APs and GREs and other exams which set the bars beyond which we cannot gain admission to college, secure scholarships, be \u201cqualified citizens.\u201d And there\u2019s no question, this anxiety is spread to both teachers and students alike. My grade-conscious sophomores worry about whether their impromptu scores will appear on a permanent record, my AP students worry about reaching that arbitrary essay score of 5. My instruction follows suit, spending precious class periods (and for my colleagues, class weeks) analyzing the rubrics, looking for aids to \u201cbump\u201d scores by a point or two. Other students see their low ACT scores as evidence that they weren\u2019t worthy of the university, after all.<\/p>\n

What matters, then, is the high score, not what is on the test. We have built a system that teaches results, not learning; teaches scores, not the value of idea.<\/p>\n

Bush\u2019s educational legacy will be increased school accountability, no matter the costs. By demanding teachers compel students to improve scores, we end up focusing our attention on the political drives to get there, though these, too, are statistically impossible to achieve. Royal Oak High School school improvement efforts are only<\/em> about improving MME scores to reach Adequate Yearly Progress; we spend no time discussing anything else. As our recent joint administration-union committee on assessing our work recently observed, one reason we are scoring low is that the middle school teachers are preparing their eighth grade students to achieve MME results and the high school teachers are prepping students for ACT results. And\u2014no surprise\u2014the objectives and rubrics for each do not match.<\/p>\n

We have built a system that teaches results, not learning; teaches scores, not the value of idea.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But wait. Instead of raising the question, \u201cShould we question whether school improvement should focus on test achievement?\u201d the district will now seek to align the teaching across these two tests. Because, after all, scores are important, not the idea. Teachers are then subject to the same motivational forces as our students. We do not ask what we should teach; we ask only how we can raise scores.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not talk, then, about how cheating by teachers in Chicago and now South Carolina<\/a> occurs around high-stakes testing. Is it a question of ethics? Is it a question about how we are taught to think about education?<\/p>\n

For me, the question is less about ethics of students (or teachers) and more about what we are given time and incentive to think about. Political public policy-making around \u201cacademic rigor\u201d merely creates a tunnel-vision for survival, not a reflective critical environment for education. The fact that this very essay would find no place in my district (let alone time to discuss it amongst my colleagues) suggests that our educational system limits opportunities for critical literacy. (I won\u2019t here elaborate on our long and failing efforts to build collaborative collegial time into our work days.)<\/p>\n

And I am not surprised, then, by a recent study which tends to corroborate my hypothesis. Heinrich Mintrop, of the Leadership for Educational Equity Program at UC Berkeley, writes that:<\/p>\n

Given that schools these days are fundamentally driven by external assessments, we would have to start by constructing assessment systems with different incentives and indicators that train the lens of what we value in education beyond test scores. (Education Week<\/em><\/a>, 10 Dec. 2008, 25)<\/p>\n

The study of California schools examined several which believed that \u201ctightening up, curricular alignment, more literacy remediation, and de-emphasizing nontest subjects\u201d would be most effective in scores. But then it correlated such schools with ratings in instructional quality and student engagement, both in high-performing and low-performing schools. Simply put, \u201ctightening up\u201d created overall higher test scores, but little student engagement. There was no correlation between high scores (however they were achieved) and instructional quality.<\/p>\n

This, perhaps, is the key to our failed ethic, both for students and teachers. We have stopped talking about motivation for learning, about instructional quality, and have asked only for the numbers at the end of the process. The reason we go to schools as teachers and students has become backgrounded, and\u2014after all, ethics is not on the test.<\/p>\n

In the end, we need to be less concerned with student cheating than with the educators who pursue score performance without question, itself an un-critical\u2014and therefore, I suggest\u2014unethical practice. At best we engage in a very narrow definition of quality. At worst we endorse a critical illiteracy in our students. Why should we expect them to be reflective?<\/p>\n

Humans respond to stimuli, in economics terms, incentives and disincentives. Is it a surprise that Obama has nominated Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education? He\u2019s the guy who worked with economist Steve Levitt<\/a> in exposing the Chicago cheating teacher scandal; wow, and he\u2019s only 44! Am I hopeful? Not until engaging educators as critically literate professionals in designing instruction is part of the test.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following post was first printed as part of the Briggs-Chisnell project, a dialogue on issues of education and literacy. \u00a0 Let\u2019s be in an uproar. Ethics have fallen in our society. Kids these days are apathetic and don\u2019t care. No matter what we teach them, it is seen as irrelevant. The recent \u201c2008 Report […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247,256],"tags":[288,289,290,291,292],"class_list":["post-793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chizblog","category-politics-and-ethics","tag-cheating","tag-critical-thinking","tag-ethics","tag-literacy","tag-testing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/cheating.jpg?fit=525%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":825,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/rohs-course-catalog-2009\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":0},"title":"ROHS Course Catalog – 2009","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jan 26","format":false,"excerpt":"Given a chance to re-create the Course Catalog for 2009-2010, and just in time for scheduling day, I offer the following new course proposals for you. Have an idea I forgot? Add it! \u00a0 Philosophy: Ethics Students will spend the semester pondering and arguing the contemporary dilemmas of 21st\u00a0century America,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2009\/01\/edcamp-header.jpg?fit=448%2C334&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1752,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/the-genie-is-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":1},"title":"The Genie is Out: How Some in Iran Understand Democracy Better than We Do","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2010 Feb 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Everywhere but my classroom, media literacy dominates the lives of our American (and global) public. The average college-bound student may read eight books each year, but will read nearly 3000 web pages and 1200 Facebook profiles. Students may write 40 pages of essays, but will write over 500 pages of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/021510_0513_TheGenieisO1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1698,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/independence-day-education-and-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":2},"title":"Independence Day, Education, and Cuba","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2011 Jul 5","format":false,"excerpt":"Cuba: July 4, 2011 My US Independence Day amounted to five meetings on the education system of Cuba, four of them official. And to assemble the eight hours of information is not my mission here; however, I am sensing a timely trend I wish to share tonight. Our meeting with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/cuba2.jpg?fit=448%2C218&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1671,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/the-west-wind-is-rhetoric\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":3},"title":"The West Wind is Rhetoric","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2008 Oct 12","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cHe\u2019s an Arab,\u201d she said of Obama.\u00a0\u00a0And poor Senator John McCain quickly took away the microphone, shaking his head. Senator McCain then did exactly what he needed to do: he described Obama as a decent man with whom he had drastically different opinions.\u00a0\u00a0Sadder still, the Republican crowd booed his remarks.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/mccain2.jpg?fit=432%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":824,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/false-gems-internet-morality\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":4},"title":"False Gems: Internet Morality","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2009 Jan 5","format":false,"excerpt":"If it's make believe, what does it matter? A\u00a0recent study\u00a0by psychologist Howard Gardner (he's the guy who came up with the multiple intelligences theory) reveals that students are rather hypocritical when it comes to their online ethics. Is this a surprise? Perhaps not, but\u00a0why\u00a0they are is perhaps more intriguing. To\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/010409_0520_FalseGemsIn2.jpg?fit=384%2C308&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1657,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/oak-leaves\/","url_meta":{"origin":793,"position":5},"title":"Oak Leaves","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2008 Oct 5","format":false,"excerpt":"In ancient Greek legend, the cave-dwelling Cumaean Sibyl, a famous prophetess, wrote the future on a series of oak leaves.\u00a0However, every time supplicants came to ask of their fortunes, they would open the door to the cave and the West Wind would blow in, scattering the leaves.\u00a0\u00a0Thus was the future\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ChizBlog"","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/cumean8.jpg?fit=427%2C301&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1570,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions\/1570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}