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The Pleasanton school district’s Amador Valley High is one of more than 200 schools statewide to have a security breach in STAR testing earlier this year.
While many of those security breaches were serious — in several cases, for example, students took photos of the test questions — the local breach seemed to be more of a prank.
In all, 242 schools around the state had security breaches, according to Nicole Steward, the district’s technology coordinator. Steward said the local breach was a minor one.
“A student took a picture of another taking the test,” she said. It was considered a breach because it showed the test. She said the state “reviewed it and said there was no cheating related to it.”
The district reported the breach to the California Department of Education, and Steward said she investigated it after it came to light when a student told a teacher and the teacher reported it to district administrators.
“The student was asked to remove the picture from their phone and from social media,” she said. “We have to remember that students post everything onto their social media. To them, it’s not a big thing.”
Steward said other students posted pictures or words they made from filling in the dots on the cover or the test.
She said proctors are trained every year on test security.
“They also post signs during testing that says no electronics,” Steward said, adding that teachers have decided on their own whether to allow students to keep their cellphones or to turn them in before a test.
“This year we’ll probably be a little more strict with security, and we’ll probably make sure that every teacher collects phones at the very beginning of the test period,” she said.
Last year STAR test results were withheld by the state for two weeks because of similar security breaches.
The district is also among a group that showed declines in STAR test results, although locally, the drop is mostly minor.
“I know in general our scores went down this year. There doesn’t seem to be any large drops, nothing that overwhelmingly stands out,” Steward said, adding most drops are 1 or 2 percent.
A detailed comparison between 2012 and 2013 test results will be in Friday’s Pleasanton Weekly.
Prank or not, whoever this student is should realize that funding can be put at jeopardy over this stupid action. This article almost makes it out to be that it was a “teen being a teen.”
Kids today are too connected to the world. Too many pictures of duck faces.
Who is monitoring these kids during testing?
Happy to see Foothills not on this list. Way to go Falcons!
Asking students to turn in cell phones – genius idea!
Are cheating and lying a way that adolescents learn how to become more functional adults. A way of learning how to protect themselves?
Human beings throughout human history have lied and cheated…it’s nothing new and it certainly is not a “sin” but a useful social skill.
Does everybody lie and how often daily?
If you read the article in the Chronicle, it doesn’t sound as benign as Ms. Steward makes it out to be. Apparently the district can face sanctions if it is determined the integrity of the test was compromised. Funny how the Pleasanton Weekly once again puts the spin on anything negative about Amador Valley High School. Perhaps we should wait and see if this was just a foolish prank after all or something more.
“Cross unions, pay a price
Money flows to those who control the levers of power, and in California that means Democrats who have long been allied with, and funded by, public-sector unions. One does not make the decision to “cross” powerful interests lightly, for recrimination is swift. Usually done behind closed doors, one threat was actually televised when, during a budget hearing, a representative of the Service Employees International Union — one of California’s largest public-employee unions — brazenly told legislators “we helped to get you into office, and we got a good memory. Come November, if you don’t back our program, we’ll get you out of office.” Remarkably, not one legislator contested the threat delivered in “the people’s house.”
The most influential public-sector union is the California Teachers Association, which has mastered the politics of how to elect the very politicians who subsequently do their bidding. With approximately 325,000 members — each paying some $1,000 a year in dues — it commands the most powerful war chest in California, raising over $300 million annually to finance its operations. From 2000-2010, CTA spent over $210 million on political campaigning — more than any other donor in the state, outspending the pharmaceutical, oil and tobacco industries combined.
Its political war chest is legendary, allowing it to dominate elections, including school-board races in which turnout is often less than 10 percent. Political consultants fear crossing them because of the potential to be “blacklisted” in the future. Almost half the California budget funds education, thanks to Proposition 98, a 1988 initiative crafted by CTA. Democratic legislators fear interfering with it even though few understand how the formula functions.
Former Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, was one of the few to challenge it, comparing it to a “runaway escalator” in need of reform. In retribution, CTA ran ads against him. They were not interested in “taking him out”; rather, the message was more akin to sending dead fish to fellow Caucus members so they would have to choose loyalty: their own president or CTA. In a subsequent interview, Sen. Perata referenced CTA’s arrogant belief that it was the “fourth coequal branch of government.”
Former CTA staffers are ensconced in legislative leadership offices. Legislation benefiting their membership flies through the Capitol. Indeed, class-size reduction was sold to voters as “benefiting kids.” In fact, its main effect was growing the numbers of dues-paying members rather than improving the academic skills of, particularly, poor and minority children. California’s teachers are among the highest-paid in the nation; yet there is little accountability for student achievement or teacher performance. Tenure and seniority are protected. Laws make it almost impossible to fire teachers for incompetence or misconduct. Charter schools — mostly nonunion — are vilified. Any hint of privatization, including creating Special Opportunity Scholarships for kids locked in failing schools, is off the table.”
The above is a small excerpt from one of the best articles I’ve read regarding how CA/Sacramento government actually works. Finally the truth from an insider – the former Democratic Senate majority leader no less. (op-ed – Gloria Romero / U-T San Diego)
Fixing California: The union chokehold http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Aug/10/romero-union-chokehold-california/2/?#article-copy
Here is the link,
http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr13/yr13rel74.asp
Doesn’t look like nothing to me.
At Dublin High, we take each student’s cell phone before testing. They don’t get it back until testing is done for that day. It takes 2 minutes to do this. No one puts up a fight, and collecting phones takes like 2 minutes. Easy solution.
Kids don’t take rules seriously unless they are visibly enforced. If the school is serious about this rule, then the “teen being a teen” needs to be publicly shamed and punished. Or it will happen next year. Again, authorities need to be teaching accountability over compassion.
I found the coverage of this story offensive here and in the Patch. So much back peddling by PUSD. Yes, kids post everything on social media today. Duh! Clearly testing controls were not in place and now jeopardizes funding. How is this different from the kids across the bay who are having to re-take AP exams due to incompetent staff? Geez… take some responsibility PUSD.
Collecting cell phones would seem the logical solution; however, we also should consider the value of the STAR test.
Cheating is not the end of the world.
i rest my case…
How easy would it be for the children to place their phones on a table and retrieve them after the test ?This generation is very connected and post everything, not realizing the repercussions of putting everything on line.
I am not sure if schools can legally collect cell phones, after the various acts that have occurred on school campuses. BUT, I could be wrong. It would be interesting to know for sure.
Cheating is wrong, and making a joke of something that should be taken seriously is too bad. But, I do feel for these kids. They are constantly assessed, quizzed, and tested. I am glad that I am not in school anymore.
Schools can definitely collect cell phones, provided that (1) there is a clear policy regarding cell phone use in school, and the kid is aware of such a policy, and the kid broke the policy; (2) the school confiscates it for a reasonable amount of time (a class period, until the end of the day, until a parent comes to collect it, etc); and (3) the school does not infringe upon the privacy of the kid (by randomly looking through text messages without cause, etc).
Collecting a cell phone in a box for two or three hours while said box is kept in the same classroom with the students is an absolutely reasonable policy. If kids don’t like it, they can keep the phones at home on days of testing.
A cell phone is free speech…however, if you hear voices coming from a cell phone, you are mostly coo-coo and need a pill!
Dublin Teacher writes:
“It takes 2 minutes to do this. No one puts up a fight, and collecting phones takes like 2 minutes.”
Maybe we should test the teachers before we test the students.
Mike
Mike:
Haha, whoops. Did I mention it only takes a couple minutes to do this?
Glad I could make the guy-that-needs-to-jump-on-any-sort-of-mistake-as-a-way-to-demonstrate-their-internet-superiority feel like he’s done his job for the day. Keep combing more message boards and show everyone how smart and witty you are.
Dublin Teacher,
“the guy-that-needs-to-jump-on-any-sort-of-mistake-as-a-way-to-demonstrate-their-internet-superiority”
Like I said, maybe we should test the teachers. We might start with pronouns.
Mike
What motivates lying: http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lying-why.php
VIVA STUDENTS! VIVA!
everybody lies…tee hee hee…
Cholo,
That was a nice article. Thanks for the link. TIL that “Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine” is a lie. My experience with women over the years had me convinced that it was an unmistakable indication of clear and present danger.
Mike
Amador is a great school. The kids got away with something that is ultimately not a big deal anyway. Next year there will be more caution with the testing but really who cares? These standardized tests are stupid and tell us nothing about what our kids are learning anyway.
Awesome,
Would that be a personal opinion, or do you have facts you could share with us?
Mike
a test is a test is a test…it is helpful…however, you seem to believe that nothing tells us anything…
most of the young people that i’ve known have alot to look forward to…ups ‘n downs, being joyful about being alive…developing lifelong friendships, protecting the environments, paying taxes…better stop