Cheating In Frekonoctics By Levitt And Dubner's Freakonomics

Most people like to think of themselves as moral (often unequivocally so); however Levitt and Dubner argue in Freakonomics that there will always be a point where even the most righteous people will cheat to get ahead. This type of pessimistic statement seems to be inaccurate until backed up by situations ranging from the most immoral people to the supposedly most honorable. When enough is on the line, according to Levitt and Dubner there is no immunity to corruption. The most striking example is of teachers who cheat on standardized “high-stakes” testing to get bonuses or keep their job. With their livelihood on the line, those who supposedly preach about honesty and loyalty can be corrupted to do the very thing they advocate against. An intended

One way teachers boost their scores is blatantly changing the answers that their students mark (Levitt 25). This was revealed using an algorithm to detect the most obvious forms of cheating, and when looking at the scores of the classes suspected of teaching there is often a dramatic fall in scores the next year (Levitt 31). Teachers who cheat on these tests find their bonuses more important than a good, honest education for their students. Rather than relying on their good teaching, they feel the need to cheat to get high scores. Additionally, teachers might write, “the answers to the state exam right there on the chalkboard” (Levitt 24). This is possibly more alarming than secretly changing the answers after the students turn in the test because it teaches the impressionable children that cheating is the best way to get ahead. Giving extra time is just another example of how teachers violate the rules of the test and implicate the notion that cheating is okay or even favorable. Not only do teachers cheat, but they also tarnish the intent of the standardized tests by specifically catering to what is questioned on the test. While this is not technically cheating, it hinders the educational experience. Likewise, it teaches students to put more importance on testing than