The state, addressing those concerns in a report of its investigation in August, blamed "adult interference" for high scores at those two schools. The state did not accuse anyone of cheating. It singled out the two elementary schools' principals and a literacy coach for pressuring teachers to ignore rules.

Specifically, it said H.B. Wilson Elementary School principal Michael Hailey had directed teachers "to do everything necessary to have students pass the tests." Hailey denied to investigators that there had been breaches of test security, but has declined public comment.

Two former teachers who were on the job during the 2004-05 school year told The Inquirer that they had seen colleagues give clues to students during the tests - a stare, or a finger pointed at an incorrect answer. They also saw them post helpful information on walls, and change answers.

A guidance counselor still recalls the question she got from a concerned parent: "My child really cannot read. How could they get these grades?"

A state grand jury is looking at cheating allegations and spending and bonuses received by former Camden Superintendent Annette D. Knox. Knox has maintained that the scores are legitmmate, and that she had followed spending and bonus procedures as she understood them.

State police have interviewed numerous district employees, including teachers and administrators, in recent months. The investigators are asking about when alleged cheating began to surface, teachers who have been interviewed say. The district has turned over thousands of documents, but no one has been called to testify before a grand jury.

The probe appears to focus on the dramatic drops in scores between 2005 and 2006, when the state sent monitors to oversee the tests, according to several people who spoke with state investigators. Charges could include official misconduct and tampering with records.

The state did not report on any earlier year, even though the 2004 scores for some schools show the same level of scoring that the state deemed suspiciously high in 2005. (Years earlier than 2004 cannot be compared because the test changed.)

In a statement late Friday, the state did not respond to a question about whether it planned to look at earlier years' tests.

Penelope Lattimer, the Department of Education's chief of staff, said officials are "concerned" when they hear allegations of corruption and cheating in the Camden district.

She noted that the state had conducted "several investigations" in Camden during the last year, and had turned over the results to the state attorney general.

David G. Sciarra, executive director of the nonprofit Education Law Center, said the Department of Education had done a "miserable" job in Camden the last four or five years.

"You have to wonder why things like this can happen under their noses," said Sciarra, whose organization has sued the state to get more funding for poor districts, including Camden.

Former Education Commissioner David Hespe, now a Rowan University associate professor, said he had not been made aware of any "pattern of cheating" during his 1999-2001 tenure. Rather, he said, there was a culture of "noninterference" that made it difficult to penetrate the school system to even find such things.

"The integrity of these test scores are very important, so you'd have to be alarmed by it," he said of Inquirer interviews with teachers.

Some teachers interviewed by The Inquirer said they knew nothing about cheating and considered their colleagues honest.

Those who did know about cheating said they were unaware of systemic, or direct, instruction on how to cheat from the central administration.

*Rather, they said, participants were subtly recruited by other teachers, counselors or principals. If they gave any hint that they considered the practice illegal or improper, the solicitor moved on. If they signaled approval, they were given answer sheets or prompts for test day. Those who boosted scores won praise from supervisors at district meetings.

A Camden High School teacher said: "Last year I was called into the guidance office to fill in some missing grades for students. When I said to the group, 'You want me to cheat - I've never met these students,' they backed off, and that was the end of that."Sources interviewed by The Inquirer described these methods used to violate test security: