Flickr: timlewisnm

When it happens by coincidence, it’s funny. But when students intentionally fill in the bubbles on their answer sheets to create pictures, it’s no laughing matter.

State lawmakers will hold a public hearing Friday afternoon on a resolution urging the BOE to provide academic credit or some other incentive or penalty to motivate students to take the Adequate Yearly Progress tests seriously.

The legislation notes that “reports of students misusing their answer bubbles on the tests by strategically connecting the bubbles to create a picture or message strongly suggests that some students do not appreciate the consequences of their actions.”

The next “whereas” in the resolution suggests some pupils have more sinister motivations.

“Some students intentionally perform poorly in order to reflect negatively on teachers they do not like.”

With bills pending in the Legislature concerning performance evaluations for teachers based in part on their students’ AYP test scores, this issue becomes all the more important.

And if the resolution’s information is accurate, we’re not talking about a handful of disillusioned students acting out. 

“Whereas, generally, students are of the opinion that anywhere from twenty-five to fifty per cent of the students taking the test do not do so seriously.”