1. 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). 

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

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. Afonya 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 easing stray pencil marks. Mr. Mensah asked Abougye 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) 

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Answer 1 The benefits are 1 The school would not be barred and action would be taken against the ... View the full answer