Short Avenue Elementary principal
James Downing, principal of Short Avenue Elementary in Del Rey, answers angry parents' questions this week. Short Avenue is among the schools whose standardized test scores were thrown out by the state. (Barbara Davidson, Los Angeles Times / September 18, 2011)
  • Email
  • print
  • increase text sizedecrease text size


Twenty-two California schools had their test scores thrown out this year for reasons ranging from outright cheating to comparatively minor mistakes, such as failing to cover up bulletin boards or stumbling over instructions.


In most cases, schools or school districts turned themselves in. Because of budget cuts, the state Education Department no longer conducts random audits at schools or scans test booklets for irregularities.


Nearly half the campuses lost their Academic Performance Index scores because of cheating by teachers on the multiple-choice tests. Several others were penalized because of help teachers gave students that violated rules. Additionally, some school scores were rejected because of what appeared to be accidental actions.


There was even sabotage: Answers for 19 students at Jackson Avenue Elementary, in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified