A handful of Houston schools have all but been caught red-handed cheating on Texas's new standardized test, the TAKS:

The principal and two teachers at one of Houston's highest-rated elementary schools have been reassigned pending the outcome of a state investigation into possible cheating on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abe Saavedra requested the inquiry after an analysis by the Dallas Morning News revealed that 31 of Sanderson Elementary's 38 fifth-graders scored perfect, or near perfect, on the TAKS math exam last spring. Twenty-five of them correctly answered all 44 math questions, and six students missed just one question.

Those scores were substantially out of line with the students' scores on past TAKS exams and other tests, Saavedra said.

[...]

The Morning News analyzed scores from 7,700 Texas schools, searching unusual gaps in performance between grade levels or subjects. Research has shown that schools that are weak in one subject or grade are typically weak in others.

More than 200 schools had large, unexplained score gaps between grades or between the TAKS and other standardized tests.

The funny - and sad - thing about this is that opponents of standardized testing (and the No Child Left Behind Act as a whole) will look at this and say, "See? This is why standardized testing is a joke! It focuses all of the attention on the stupid tests!"

Meanwhile, supporters of standardized testing will look at this and say, "See? This is why we need standardized testing! If they're willing to cheat to avoid accountability, we surely can't let them grade themselves!"

Meanwhile, the kids still aren't learning. Or at least we don't think they are. Or we don't know if they are.

But thank heavens we have the TEA, NEA, and governments of all levels as guardians of the gate, right?

[link via blogHOUSTON, more here]