Few states examine test erasures
Fewer than half the states routinely analyze suspicious numbers of erasures on standardized school tests, a key method of detecting cheating by teachers or their bosses.
By Rodney White, AP
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says schools' contracts with testing companies should require statistical study that can detect cheating.
Erasure analysis launched a Georgia investigation that uncovered widespread cheating in Atlanta schools and has triggered probes in Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
A survey by USA TODAY of state education agencies found that 20 states and Washington, D.C., did erasure analysis on all pencil-and-paper tests required during the 2010-11 school year under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.
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That means nearly 45% of the annual reading and math exams this year were scored