How not to respond to a testing scandal
Written by Jay Mathews for The Washington Post. Read the entire article here.
“The city should have investigators interview principals, test directors and teachers under threat of criminal sanctions if they do not tell the truth. Asking students what they remembered would also help: Did they actually check their work and make erasures?
Will we ever discover what happened after hours to the D.C. answer sheets kept in cabinets to which principals had the keys? Will D.C. parents ever have proof that the people running their neighborhood schools can be trusted? I doubt it. The impact of ignoring the inflated scores will be disastrous. I wonder why the people in charge don’t see that.”
“The city should have investigators interview principals, test directors and teachers under threat of criminal sanctions if they do not tell the truth. Asking students what they remembered would also help: Did they actually check their work and make erasures?
Will we ever discover what happened after hours to the D.C. answer sheets kept in cabinets to which principals had the keys? Will D.C. parents ever have proof that the people running their neighborhood schools can be trusted? I doubt it. The impact of ignoring the inflated scores will be disastrous. I wonder why the people in charge don’t see that.”
New probe of 2011 suspect test erasures – The Washington Post
This suspected cheating occurred in 2011, after Michelle Rhee was forced to resign as DC chancellor. However, her DCPS personnel selections and operations remain virtually intact and remain in place as her legacy.
Written by Bill Turque for The Washington Post. Read the entire article here.
“[DCPS] has winnowed from 128 to 35 the number of classrooms that it will ask an independent contractor to investigate for possible cheating on the 2011 DC CAS, the agency announced Thursday.
The 128 classrooms, spread across 54 public and public charter schools, represent less than three percent of classrooms citywide in which tests were administered last April. They were identified in a study last July by CTB/McGraw-Hill, publisher of the DC CAS, as having ‘inordinate numbers’ of wrong-to-right erasures on answer sheets. The study, which wasn’t made public by OSSE until late December, said the data ‘may indicate inappropriate intervention on students’ answer documents by an educator.‘”
Written by Bill Turque for The Washington Post. Read the entire article here.
“[DCPS] has winnowed from 128 to 35 the number of classrooms that it will ask an independent contractor to investigate for possible cheating on the 2011 DC CAS, the agency announced Thursday.
The 128 classrooms, spread across 54 public and public charter schools, represent less than three percent of classrooms citywide in which tests were administered last April. They were identified in a study last July by CTB/McGraw-Hill, publisher of the DC CAS, as having ‘inordinate numbers’ of wrong-to-right erasures on answer sheets. The study, which wasn’t made public by OSSE until late December, said the data ‘may indicate inappropriate intervention on students’ answer documents by an educator.‘”
35 D.C. classrooms investigated for possible cheating
Written by Lisa Gartner for The Washington Examiner. Read the entire article here.
“Thirty-five District classrooms are being investigated for possible cheating on last spring’s standardized tests, nearly double the number of classes investigated in 2010, school officials said Thursday.
The Office of the State Superintendent for Education quietly concluded its analysis of anomalies on the 2011 D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System by recommending that nearly three dozen classrooms — less than 1 percent of the 4,279 classrooms tested — be further investigated by an independent firm that OSSE is expected to choose Monday.”
“Thirty-five District classrooms are being investigated for possible cheating on last spring’s standardized tests, nearly double the number of classes investigated in 2010, school officials said Thursday.
The Office of the State Superintendent for Education quietly concluded its analysis of anomalies on the 2011 D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System by recommending that nearly three dozen classrooms — less than 1 percent of the 4,279 classrooms tested — be further investigated by an independent firm that OSSE is expected to choose Monday.”