Test Preparation:
Considering the Appropriateness of these Activities

A Professional Development Module for Iowa Educators

As educators, our decisions are constantly guided by considerations about what would be in the best interests of our students. Decisions regarding test-preparation activities should be no different. Sometimes, however, exactly how students might benefit or be harmed by a particular activity is not all that clear. Thus, it’s also important to consider how you personally might be impacted, or how your school or district could be impacted.

For example, consider the following headlines:

What if one of these headlines about your school was in your local paper? In the Des Moines Register? What would be the potential fallout?

Here are just some of the potential negative consequences:

• Parents/community might lose confidence in the teacher/school, doubting the trustworthiness and sincerity of future actions.

• Students might believe that “cheating” is an appropriate practice.

• Teachers or administrators might be suspended, fired, and/or have their licenses revoked.

Let’s take a closer look at what “cheating” means. According to Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation,

We probably all share a similar understanding of what it means for a student to “cheat.”
But what does “cheating” look like when it’s done by an educator in an assessment context?

Although the potential allegation of “cheating” is an obvious reason for caring about the appropriateness of test preparation, hopefully an even more compelling reason is the negative consequences associated with students receiving scores higher than they really should be. This reason should be made more obvious as the three criteria presented in Part 4 are reviewed.