If missile launch sites were run like public education
Friday, January 17, 2014 at 04:31AM From yesterday's headlines:
Air Force pulls 34 nuclear officers off job for alleged test cheating (Associated Press)
... 34 are suspected of cheating several months ago on a routine proficiency test that includes checking missile launch officers’ knowledge of how to handle an “emergency war order,” which is the term for the authorization required to launch a nuclear weapon....
[Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James] suggested that the cheating was confined to this single case involving 34 officers, although numerous missile officers have told the AP confidentially that some feel compelled to cut corners on their monthly proficiency tests because of intense pressure to score at the highest levels to advance in the force.
...
The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom, where all 34 suspected cheaters are based, is responsible for 150 of the 450 ICBMs.
...
The Malmstrom unit failed a nuclear safety and security inspection in August but succeeded on a redo in October.
Were this a public school system, what actions might be taken:
- Cover-up the cheating, denying any wrong doing as long as possible, by administration
- Rededicate our efforts to teach students test-taking skills (rather than useful skills or content)
- Fire the teachers, assuming they were behind the cheating somehow
- Continue to base salaries grades and promotions grade advancement on high-stakes, summative assessments (OK, it looks like the Air Force has that one covered)
- Never question the validity of the test content or ability of educators to convince students of the importance of doing well other than to win some extrinsic reward (high score, good grade, data for a college application)
When I read about a cheating scandal involving high-stakes testing in schools, I sigh, shake my head, and think "what do you expect when the pressure is high on doing well on a task that has no value to the individual." Who can blame teachers, students or administrators for thinking that a job not worth doing is not worth doing well.
But what if the test DOES have value? I kind of like knowing that the people running our ICBMs know what the hell they are doing. (I am adding these folks to my list of people who I don't want thinking outside the box - my dentist, my airline pilot, my tax preparer, my auto mechanic, my plumber, etc...)
Maybe the problem isn't with testing in schools, but the value of what we test, how we test, and why we test.
Reader Comments (2)
Cheating in schools is rampant - sometimes it is covered up because of payoffs. Many are overlooked and that is an unfortunate situation and reality. Not a pessimist here, only a realist. - Marley
I have an opinion about this quote, "a job not worth doing is not worth doing well", for me this means like how can you do your best or do good in such things in which you know from the very start that it is not worth doing, meaning it is a waste of time. We,people, like to do our best in which in the end we can benefit and we can be proud of.