It's imperative that, concurrent with greater accountability, steps are taken to ensure that cheating doesn't occur, so this is good news from NYS:

As the stakes grow higher for standardized tests in New York, state education officials said Thursday they will create an investigative unit to combat cheating by aiding local districts and probing the most egregious cases.

The announcement came the day after state lawmakers approved a measure under which student scores on state tests will count for up to 40% of teachers' annual evaluations. Officials said faith in the tests is crucial for the new policy to work.

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