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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Newark school had been flagged before for possible cheating on standardized tests | NJ.com

Newark school had been flagged before for possible cheating on standardized tests | NJ.com

Newark school had been flagged before for possible cheating on standardized tests

Published: Sunday, August 07, 2011, 10:00 AM

benjamin-franklin-school.JPGBenjamin Franklin School in Newark is one of almost three dozen recently flagged by the state for possible cheating on standardized tests.

NEWARK — The Benjamin Franklin School in Newark is one of almost three dozen recently flagged by the state for possible cheating on standardized tests, but this wasn’t the school’s first brush with allegations of testing impropriety.

Late last year, the district disciplined one of the school’s third-grade teachers — and forced all of her students to retake their state exams — after a state investigation found the teacher had "breached the test administration security" by allegedly giving a student extra time to finish, according to a report by state investigators for the Department of Education.

A school social worker serving as a hall monitor during testing at Franklin School in May 2010 told officials she saw teacher Ana Dionisio flip through the pages of a student’s test booklet, then