Question

Eric Aboagye was a 29-year-old math teacher at Ako Basic School in Pru District. He empathized with his students and was devoted to their success. A colleague described Aboagye as a “star teacher” and a “very hard worker, who will go the extra mile.”

Aboagye was a teacher when Mary Afenya was Pru District’s school superintendent. Afenya set accountability measures for the Pru District school district and created performance objectives for the schools. Teacher evaluations were linked to students’ performance on standardized tests. Schools whose students did not make appropriate progress toward the standardized test goals received escalating sanctions that culminated in replacement of teachers and other staff, and restructuring or closing of the school.

Ako Basic School had been classified as “a school in need of improvement” for the previous five years. Unless 58 percent of students passed the math portion of the standardized test and 67 percent passed the language arts portion, Ako Basic School could be closed down. Its students would be separated and bussed across town to different schools.

Aboagye pushed his students to work harder than they ever had in preparing for the test. But he knew that it would be very difficult for many of them to pass. Mr. Mensah, the new principal of Ako Basic School, had heard that teachers in the elementary schools that fed into Ako had changed their students’ answers on the standardized tests under the guise of erasing stray pencil marks. Mr. Mensah asked Aboagye and other teachers to do the same. Aboagye found the exams of students who needed to get a few more questions right in order to pass. He changed their answers. If he did not change their scores, Aboagye feared that his students would lapse into “why try” attitudes. They would lose their neighborhood school and the community that had developed within it.

Thanks to Aboagye and other teachers, students of Ako did better than ever on the standardized tests. Salomey, a former student at Ako at the time, recalled, “Everyone was jumping up and down,” after a teacher announced the school had met the requirements.

The same process of changing answers continued at Ako for about five years. In the fifth year, nine other teachers were helping Aboagye change answers. Later in that year, the investigation unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) visited Ako and other Pru District schools. The results of the investigation showed that, teachers and administrators at 20 schools had cheated in the manner that Aboagye had. Also, 78 teachers who had confessed or been accused of cheating were placed on administrative leave, including Aboagye. Later, Aboagye’ employment was terminated.

(All characters used in the case are hypothetical)

In this case study, indicate and explain two benefits and three disadvantages of falsifying the results (make reference to relevant ethical theories and/or approaches).

Do you think cheating can ever be ethically justifiable? Why or why not (Explain three reasons – make reference to relevant ethical approaches)?

Answer 1

Ans

The two benefits of falsifying results were:

1. Students who would have failed in the test would have lose their neighborhood school and the community that had developed within it. They were spared from this trauma.

2. The Ako basic School met the expectation of the authorities and was not closed. The Theory of Utilitarianism was used to justify this action as it served the purpose of both students and teachers to keep the School going.

The 3 disadvantages of falsifying result were:

1. It became a regular practise in the school and all teachers started doing it even when the original reason for saving the school was no longer valid.

2. Students would no longer study hard as they realized that they were passing anyway

3. In the long run the malpractice was diagnosed and Aboagye lost his job and reputation. The theory of Deontology says that teachers Aboagye should have done their job properly without malpractice and it could have saved his job and the future of students in a better way.

Cheating can never be ethically malpractice because:

1. It creates unfair advantage for the student who is cheating and by the Theory of Justice this is basically unfair to the student who has worked hard to get grades.

2. It makes the student lose interest in studies and he becomes weak intellectually. The Theory of Deontology states that students should give their exams properly to become good citizens.

3. Students will grow up to believe that cheating is right in all areas of life and will become bad justifiable of society. This violates the Theory of Utilitarianism as it will not be beneficial for most hard working members of society.