[chexx]

It's not. Actually it's almost worse because it tends to hide issues even deeper.

This practice is very similar to when teachers would reward students for good behavior on days the teachers would be evaluated.

Principal looks good to the board/state, teachers look good to the principal, and students look good to the teachers - but yet, we get caught up in looking good and impressing others, that we forget the real issue of children that are still getting left behind.