National surveys show that most students report cheating at some point during their school careers. In addition, test fraud among educators is rising with increasing pay for performance of educators for their students’ gains on standardized tests. To improve the test validity and hold educators accountable, independent accounting and auditing systems are required.
Major accounting organizations in the United States help firms and nonprofit organizations conduct formal audits. Not limited in their scope to money, these firms gather and report information analogous to student achievement. They measure the circulation of library books, recovery rates in hospitals and client satisfaction on a variety of efforts. They have the independence, objectivity and specialized skills to gain telling information on a variety of organizations.
