Test-score manipulation damages students' future

Test-score manipulation damages students' future

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): The manipulation of test scores has been
practiced for a long time in Indonesian schools. Not for the
purpose of earning additional money, but mainly due to the
teachers and their differing perceptions of individual students.

When I was a young teacher, I also had to manipulate the
grades of some of my students on occasion. One day I gave a
convincing F (4 on a scale of 1 to 10) to one of my students on
his final exam. When all grades were submitted, and the fate of
each student was discussed, there was some very active grade
bargaining among members of the teaching staff. One senior
colleague asked me to increase the grade of the student I
flunked, because otherwise he would not graduate. To convince the
other teachers that this particular student deserved to be
passed, he said the student had slept in a graveyard for three
consecutive nights before taking the final exam. To this
colleague of mine, this was convincing evidence of the student's
motivation and sufficient for passing the exam.

I was completely dumbfounded. What does sleeping in a
graveyard have to do with his academic competence? To me, this
courageous act --because I would never have the courage to sleep
alone in a graveyard even for one night -- has no relation
whatsoever to his academic ability. But all the other members of
the teaching staff --all older than myself-- seemed to sympathize
with the student, who reportedly had a hard economic life. I was
outvoted, and I had to change the grade I previously assigned to
him. No matter how you look at it, that was grade manipulation.

Changing scores or grades for money, however, is a new
development. Not quite that new, actually. It has been going on
for at least twenty years, but it has never been done so openly.
It is only recently that this practice of "selling" higher grades
has been conducted without the slightest cover, without the
slightest shame.

What is the reason for this blatant malpractice?

Many people think that this situation is primarily the result
of low teacher salaries. Another factor is the lure of an easy
and comfortable life, especially in the big cities. I would like
to add a third factor, and that is the erosion of professional
ethics. It is the combination of these three factors that has
ultimately made some teachers surrender to the temptation of
abusing their power.

This explanation is by no means a justification. No matter the
reason, this practice remains a violation of the basic principles
of education.

It should be noted in this regard that grade evaluations serve
two purposes. One, to gauge a student's achievement as best as
possible, and as truly as possible. And second, to provide a
guide for the steps that will be taken to advance the student's
educational or professional career. These two functions are
interrelated. It is only when reports about a student's progress
are accurate that they become valuable instruments for planning
the student's future.

Viewed in this context, reports that are deliberately
falsified have no educational value whatsoever, and will
ultimately have a negative impact on the students, their parents
and society. Those who manipulate grades directly obstruct the
educational process which purports to guide students towards
reaching their potential. Those who abuse their power by giving
false reports distort the student's perception of his ability and
potential, thereby misguiding them and their future.

A still greater damage caused by this abuse of power is its
impact on the students and their parents. Those who succeed in
buying higher grades will eventually think that everything in
this life is for sale. Since real life is not like that, sooner
or later they will come across something which they so much
desire but cannot buy. One will then by cured of these illusions
either by painfully and humiliatingly accepting the hard reality
or by becoming mentally distorted by refusing to accept the real
world. I do not think that those who manipulate grades for money
really realize to what extent their misdeeds damage society.

Unfortunately, in this country it is not easy to ask students
and parents to look at a student's report calmly and reflectively
and have a discussion about its accuracy and meaning. Most
Indonesian students and their parents just accept the report
without much ado. If they are not satisfied with the report, they
will keep their dissatisfaction to themselves. They do not
protest. If a student's parents want to see better grades in
their child's report they will just bribe the teacher or
teachers. This is an unhealthy situation that must be stopped if
we want to have an educational system that is respectable and
reliable.

Ideally, the parents, the student, and the teacher will come
together and discuss what is not quite right in the report. Each
party can then suggest how the report can be improved so as to
give a truer picture of the student's capability. This is what
Guba and Lincoln called the fourth-generation evaluation, or
evaluation by negotiation. In this type of evaluation, a
student's progress is not judged only by the teachers, but by all
parties concerned. If evaluation by negotiation can be
implemented, I think that the practice of "trading grades" will
stop automatically.

But to reach that point, we still have a very, very long way
to go.

The writer is an observer of social and political affairs.