Published: February 1, 2000

Cheat Sheet

In December, New York City’s Special Commissioner of Investigation Edward Stancik issued a report accusing 52 educators at 32 schools in the city of helping students cheat on standardized tests. Methods ranged from correcting student answers before they were entered on the official "bubble sheet" to flat-out giving kids answers. Stancik estimates that more than 1,000 tests were affected. Educators, especially principals, have a lot riding on these tests: In New York, test scores determine in part how principals fare on their annual reviews, and schools with poor scores could be closed. Here’s how the cheating worked at one elementary school, according to the report: