'I'm giving grades. kids aren't earning them.'

Nearly a third of Chicago public high school teachers say they were pressured to change grades this past school year.

One in five report they actually raised a grade under such prodding.

And dozens of teachers -- elementary and high school alike -- say they believe someone changed their grades last year without their approval.

Those are the results of an unprecedented survey of more than 1,200 Chicago Teachers Union members conducted by the CTU and the Chicago Sun-Times in June and July.

The findings raise serious questions about whether some of the data used to judge Chicago Public Schools has been inflated, artificially manipulated -- or in some cases outright altered.

The responses pulled back the curtain on the stress many teachers feel every time they sit down to issue grades.

"I am giving grades. Kids aren't earning them," said math teacher Bonnie Kayser.

'IT'S IN THE CULTURE'

Teachers reported pressure from principals, "upset'' parents and even other CPS employees who were parents of their students. They said the squeeze was put on them to pass failing students, to give ill students a break or to help athletes. Some felt prodded to goose up grades to help kids graduate, avoid summer school or get into an elite high school.

Such heat was twice as common among teachers in high schools, where the push is on to reduce failure rates. Several such teachers said they felt pressured to offer last-minute deals to kids so they wouldn't fail. Another said her school lowered its grading scale and "still we are pressured to change grades.''

"That's all this district cares about -- how many kids are failing. Not how many kids are learning,'' said Kayser, who taught math at Fenger Achievement Academy last year.

Kayser said she was urged to assign make-up work, offer extra credit and stop giving zeros for missed assignments -- even for students who blew off most work or skipped tests.

Other survey respondents said grade-inflation is simply built into the high-school system.

"It's in the culture of the schools,'' wrote one experienced high school teacher who raised numerous grades under pressure -- and said at least one was changed without his approval. "You can't completely be honest in grading students, otherwise the failure rate would be off the chart.''

"While I am not crazy about it, I am sure it is necessary for a host of reasons,'' wrote another. "As the grade coordinator at the school, I am the one that has to actually make the changes.''

'TOO MANY FS = BAD SCHOOL'

More than 7 percent of high school teachers said they believed someone else changed their grades this past school year, and 4 percent of grammar school teachers reported such changes.

Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman said he takes the survey findings "very seriously'' and believes that new annual grade audits of every school will prevent tampering. The audits follow revelations this spring that grades were changed for Bulls star Derrick Rose and three other athletes in 2007, while they played basketball at Simeon High.

Make-up work can sometimes be appropriate but it shouldn't be "simply made-up work that doesn't justify going to the next grade,'' Huberman said.

"We are not going to accept as a school system people gaming grades," Huberman said. "No one should be pressured to change anyone's grade in a way they feel is inappropriate.''

In high schools, one F can stop a student from graduating and thereby affect a school's graduation rate -- one measure that can trigger district or federal sanctions.

And the pressure is nothing new in high schools, the survey found. More than half of high school teachers said at some point in their careers, they faced pressure to change grades for the better.

Last school year in particular, some teachers -- even in elementary grades -- felt their teacher ratings, jobs or the fate of their schools would be in peril if they gave out too many F's.

One fourth-grade teacher in the survey reduced the situation to an equation: "too many Fs = failure notices = bad school.''

'A LOT OF GAME-PLAYING'

The Chicago Sun-Times and the CTU agreed to work together to survey teachers after both received complaints from teachers about pressure to change grades. With input from the CTU, the Sun-Times wrote the survey and the CTU e-mailed it to teacher members.

Deborah Stipek, dean of Stanford University's School of Education, cautioned that teachers who felt pressure to change grades were probably more likely to fill out surveys than those who didn't. Even so, Stipek was not surprised by the results.

"It tells you what we all know -- that high-stakes pressures on schools don't necessarily result in increased quality of education'' but they can produce "a lot of game-playing and efforts to look good,'' Stipek said.

'IT FELT LIKE [AN] AMBUSH'

Survey responses also indicated teachers interpreted "pressure'' in different ways. Some considered a superior's constant references to a school's failure rate or the questioning of F's they issued to be pressure; others didn't.

Untenured, rookie teachers -- especially in high schools -- were twice as likely to report pressure as the most seasoned teachers.

And not just F's were at issue.

Some teachers said they were prodded to change grades so kids could make the honor roll, maintain a class rank or get a scholarship.

"I was extremely disappointed that my principal called me in to a meeting with the student, coach and parents without talking to me first,'' one high school teacher wrote.

"It felt like [an] ambush -- very unprofessional. The student cut my final exam and still got a 'C' for previous efforts, but the principal wanted a higher grade to help him get a scholarship.''

"That is wholly unacceptable behavior," Huberman said Saturday at a new school opening. If he were presented with evidence of such a meeting, "I would take disciplinary action," he said. "That's not fair to the teacher. That's not fair to the student."

More than one in 10 elementary teachers said they changed grades under pressure. Said one who did so for seventh-grade students: "I was told that other schools do it to help get kids into selective enrollment high schools.''

Several teachers reported they were told they could not flunk special education students, even if they did little work. Wrote one: "Either change [grades] or be labeled a monster for failing special education kids that do nothing!''

At Portage Park Elementary, fourth-grade teacher Jeronna Hopkins said, teachers were told repeatedly not to give less than a C to special ed students. Hopkins believes it was an attempt to avoid giving kids more special ed help -- a charge Principal Mark Berman called "ridiculous.''

Last school year, Hopkins said, she resisted pressure to change the Fs she gave to one special ed student she was convinced needed more help. Ultimately, two Fs she issued were entered into a computer, which automatically increased the child's special ed minutes from 200 to 600 a week.

"Most people just don't want to deal with the headache, that if I give out an F the principal might be mad at me or lower my rating,'' Hopkins said.

"Some people can't deal with the pressure.''

HOW SUN-TIMES, TEACHERS UNION DID THE SURVEY

The Sun-Times joined forces with the Chicago Teachers Union to assess the grading situation after both received complaints from teachers of pressure to change grades.

Two days before classes concluded, surveys were e-mailed to all CTU teachers for whom the union had e-mail addresses.

Members were asked to fill out a survey if they were active classroom teachers. Only one survey could be completed per e-mail -- and per computer.

Of 7,938 teachers to receive the surveys, 1,437 (18 percent) completed them by the July 17 deadline. Of the respondents, 1,205 identified themselves as first- through 12th-grade teachers. Those were the basis of the Sun-Times statistical analysis.

Those included 850 first- to eighth-grade teachers and 377 ninth- to 12th-grade teachers; 328 untenured teachers with up to three years' teaching experience; 480 teachers with four to 10 years' experience; and 620 with more than 10 years' experience.

Rosalind Rossi and Art Golab

Color Photo: Ron Huberman ; Color Photo: Al Podgorski, Sun-Times / Portage Park teacher Jeronna Hopkins said teachers were told repeatedly not to give less than a C to special ed students. She believes it was an attempt to avoid giving kids more special ed help. ; Color Photo: Keith Hale, Sun-Times / CPS cares about "how many kids are failing. Not how many kids are learning," says Fenger teacher Bonnie Kayser. ; Chart/Graph: Survey Excerpts: (See microfilm for chart). ;