Cheating on MCAS doubles

The number of Massachusetts students cheating on the MCAS more than doubled this year, compared to 2006, and the number of teachers accused of improperly helping students with the exam continued to increase, according to new state data.

The Department of Education documented a total of 63 incidents, including 43 cases involving students who shared answers or brought crib sheets into the testing room and 20 involving educators, according to a report given to the Globe yesterday.

Last year, the state reported a total of 34 improprieties, including 15 educators, a marked increase in the number of teachers caught giving inappropriate assistance on the battery of math, English, and science tests on which schools are judged each year. Only three educators were caught cheating in 2005.

In 2006, 19 students were caught cheating; 31 students were caught in 2005.

Despite the increase, state Department of Education and teachers union officials say the number of cheating incidents remains minuscule considering that more than 1.2 million tests are given each year.

"Sixty three does not strike me as an alarming finding," said Paul Reville, chairman of the state Board of Education. "Obviously there is concern every time there is cheating going on, but I don't see reason for inordinate concern in light of the hundreds of thousands of possible ways people could cheat."

A Stoughton High student memorized a SparkNotes plot summary of Jane Eyre for the composition portion of the English MCAS. In response to an open-ended writing question, a Barnstable High student copied the text from a poster left hanging on the classroom wall. A New Bedford elementary school teacher briefed students on the subjects of the reading passages they would encounter on the reading MCAS. Other teachers provided dictionaries or other forbidden tools, or made mistakes in administering the exam, such as forgetting to remove helpful material from a visible place in the classroom.

Jeffrey Nellhaus, the state's acting commissioner of education, said the state trains teachers each year on how to properly administer the tests. The rise in cheating incidents, he said, could have simply resulted from more rigorous reporting from schools.

Others, including teachers union leaders, say the increase may have stemmed from the fact that more of the high-stakes tests are now being administered.

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests are given every year in grades 3 to 8, as well as in high school. Students must pass the 10th-grade math and English exams to graduate, and starting with the class of 2010, they must also pass one of four science exams. While much of the cheating occurred in high schools, students as young as third grade were caught copying answers from one another.

The Globe obtained the data this week as Nellhaus released a report to the Board of Education on the skyrocketing number of investigations into teacher misconduct, which ranged from cheating on tests to criminal convictions and inappropriate relationships with students. The state investigated 143 serious educator misconduct cases in the 2006-07 school year, up 43 percent from the previous year.

Since 2003, when the state first required school systems to report educator misconduct resulting in dismissals or resignations, the number of incidents requiring investigation has increased at least five-fold; between 2000 and 2003, there were only 17 such cases, according to the education commissioner's report to the board.

Of the 63 educators who were disciplined or dismissed between 2001 and 2005, 12 had inappropriate or sexual relationships with students, nine had been convicted or accused of assault or rape, and six viewed pornography during school hours or on school computers, according to a database the state compiled for an Associated Press report.

"Someone engaging in conduct like that doesn't belong in the classroom," said Thomas Gosnell, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, a teachers union representing many of the state's urban school systems. "Even one proven case is too many."

The database also listed six educators convicted of possessing or selling drugs, and five disciplined for cheating, including improprieties on the MCAS and the state's teacher licensing exam. The state has grown so concerned over prospective teachers cheating on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure that it now requires test-takers to submit their thumbprints to verify their identities if questions arise.

The state Education Department has two staff members charged with investigating allegations of teacher misconduct and determining whether teachers' licenses should be revoked or suspended after schools report teachers' arrests and other ethical breaches, Nellhaus said.

"This is serious," Nellhaus said. "We want to make sure that our students are safe in school and that the adults they encounter are treating them appropriately. We take action when we learn about it."

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.