ALBANY -- The state's Department of Education on Monday recommended several measures to crack down on cheating on high-stakes exams that influence not only the futures of students but also ratings of public schools and teachers' careers.
The report to the state Board of Regents is aimed at cheating by students, teachers and administrators during Regents exams and in scoring.
The report says spot checks using "erasure analysis" of answers led to the investigation of seven unnamed schools. It notes "a statistically improbable grouping of scores" statewide just above the passing mark.
Records released Friday to The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Law request submitted in July found a growing concern about teachers prompting students toward correct answers or inflating scores, especially those near the 65-percent passing mark.
The state records provided to the AP show the cases also are difficult for the small staff of the state Department of Education to prove. Many cases involve erasures on tests with correct answers with no evidence of what motivated students to make the changes.
Cheating on Regents exams can frustrate parents and students who have sometimes seen all scores expunged because of cheating, forcing even students who had nothing to do with cheating to retake the exams in the summer or the following year.
The concern comes as Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice has prosecuted a college student accused of using a fake ID to take SAT college board exams for six friends in a process she suspects is widespread. Georgia recently revoked the teaching licenses of eight Atlanta teachers and three school administrators over cheating. Cheating investigations also have been undertaken recently in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington.
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