When Teachers Cheat

Under pressure to improve test scores, are schools giving students the wrong kind of lessons?

Teaching seemed a natural, uncomplicated career choice for Stacey Moskowitz. "I like children," she says. "I enjoy watching them learn the things you need to do to succeed in life." In 1990, in her mid-20s, she began teaching third grade at Community Elementary School 90 in the Bronx, N.Y., where she learned how to succeed on the school's terms. She says the principal's underlings gave her a list of students along with the order "to make sure they passed" standardized reading exams. On the mornings of such exams, she was given a 2-in. by 3-in. cheat sheet. She would then have...

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