Test Grading

For this Friday's editorial analyzation, I have chosen the following article from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/opinion/there-has-to-be-a-better-way-to-grade-tests.html?ref=opinion

The article is arguing that the way tests are graded in the state of New York has left the system vulnerable to cheating. Although I do believe the author's exigence is drawn from the recent scandal in my city, I also believe that the author's argument is valid. Requiring teachers to grade their own students' tests days before graduation is not the best course of action for a school district who's goal is to eradicate cheating. As the Atlanta scandal has shown, cheating can and will frequently occur when given the opportunity to, especially when a school's funding is on the line. Teachers and principals don't want their students to fail the Regents exam any more then the students want to not graduate, therefore if New York is serious about preventing cheating, a new system of grading tests must be established. However, any new innovation in the schools' systems of test grading will cost the state extra money, be it a new computer system for students to take tests on, a test scanner that sends the tests to a neutral location for grading, or physical transportation of tests to a neutral location. New York has bigger problems than the possibility of cheating on standardized tests in public schools, and I believe that if the state chooses to address this problem, it will at the very most be placed on the back burner. I suppose that for now, New York will have to rely on the personal integrity of students, teachers, and principals to keep the dangers of cheating at bay.