Remember this story I wrote back in December?

A Dallas Morning News data analysis has uncovered strong evidence of organized, educator-led cheating on the TAKS test in dozens of Texas schools – and suspicious scores in hundreds more…

Take Sanderson Elementary, a school in a poor Houston area.

In 2003, after years of mediocre performance, it reached what has traditionally been the pinnacle for American schools: The U.S. Department of Education named Sanderson a Blue Ribbon School because of rapid improvement in its test scores.

But the News’ analysis raises questions about the validity of Sanderson’s TAKS performance, particularly in fifth-grade math.

Sanderson’s fourth-graders scored extremely poorly on the math TAKS test. Their average scale score was so low that it ranked Sanderson in the bottom 2 percent of the state: No. 3,173 out of 3,227 schools.

That’s roughly what might be expected from a school where 98 percent of the student body is poor enough to qualify for free or reduced lunches. Hundreds of research studies have found that student poverty is the single most important factor in student academic achievement.

But Sanderson’s fifth-graders had astonishing success on the math test. They had the highest scale scores of any school in Texas, beating every magnet school, every wealthy suburban school and every high-performing school in the state.

Sanderson didn’t just finish No. 1. No other school in the state was even close. In scale-score points, the distance between Sanderson and the No. 2 school was as large as the gap between No. 2 and No. 116. More than 90 percent of Sanderson’s fifth-graders got perfect or near-perfect scores.

Well, here’s today’s followup story:

HOUSTON – The Houston Independent School District said Thursday that it was firing two fifth-grade math teachers found to have helped children cheat on a state test last year.

More than a dozen students interviewed by investigators at Sanderson Elementary School confirmed that teachers helped them cheat by pointing to correct answers, among other actions, the district said.

“HISD will not tolerate this kind of inappropriate behavior,” Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said in announcing the dismissals. “It deprives children of their right to a good education … and it damages the confidence of the public in our school district.”

The principal of Sanderson, a school in a low-income area on Houston’s north side, also has been demoted to assistant principal and will be reassigned. There was no evidence that he was involved, but he “failed to exercise strong administrative controls,” the district said. The district did not name those who were disciplined. The teachers declined to answer questions but denied wrongdoing, the district said.

The school district launched an investigation of several schools Dec. 17 after a Dallas Morning News analysis of test scores statewide found hundreds of Texas schools with highly unusual swings in scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests.

18 February 2005

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