The county that I live in (in NC) had a similiar situation to this. Kids are given tests at the end of the year. The teachers are also 'graded'...there is tremendous pressure on them to have the kids in their class pass these tests - this leads to the teachers 'teaching only the test', but's that's a whole new topic. Last year, the kids weren't passing their mandatory end-of-grade tests - if they fail, they're not promoted - so the school commission's original solution was to lower the passing grade. Passing was something like 18-20% correct on a mulitple choice (A,B,C,D) test.
The public was so outraged that all of the results were thrown out and the tests were given again. Students were given a dumbed-down test written by the teachers that even Mortimer Snerd could pass. Lo and behold, the kids made their marks, teachers got all-around kudos, and the school spits out a new generation of underachievers.
I'm going to forward this article to my boss and ask him how long I can expect to hold my job if I only complete work correctly 23% of the time. Wonder what his answer is?
I shall expand on your NC post. Did you see recently that the just administered final exams didnt turn out the way the schools were hoping so they decided not to release the scores AT ALL. Not even to the students who took the tests. They still dont know if they passed or failed.