Pa. ed. chief orders more tests probed for possible cheating
Pennsylvania Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis today said he has ordered all PSSA exams from 2009 on reviewed for possible testing improprieties. "It's very concerning," Tomalis said in an interview.
Pa. ed. chief orders more tests probed for possible cheating
Kristen Graham
Pennsylvania Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis today said he has ordered all PSSA exams from 2009 on reviewed for possible testing improprieties.
"It's very concerning," Tomalis said of possible cheating in an interview.
Tomalis had already ordered 40 districts and nine charter schools flagged for possible cheating in a forensic analysis of 2009 PSSAs to investigate testing irregularities. Now, he wants forensic analyses done for the 2010 and 2011 PSSAs, as well.
He said he wanted the work to be done as quickly as possible, and said he expects reports by the early fall.
The districts - including Philadelphia - will have 30 days to respond to the Department of Education's demands for a probe into 2009 testing flags.
Multiple Philadelphia schools had several flags for statistical irregularities. That does not necessarily mean cheating, but can suggest it.
The state could conduct its own inquiry if districts' probes are found to be inadequate.
Guess those internal investigations ain't working anymore.— bearsfriend- Ackerman is in big trouble.— Don Cornelius
Comment removed.- Sweet Jesus! The state government actually believes it is responsible for SOMETHING related to education other than to cut funds and steer money to charters and toward a voucher/ponzi scheme to pay back religious fanatics that voted Repub.— mick-of-the-moment
- This investigation is long overdue. The obvious truth is about to be revealed!— Borkey
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- The FED's they're a coming for ya Arlene! And I cannot wait for you to do the perp walk.... Enjoy Paris - while you can....— dumb-o-crat
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- Racists make Ackerman sympathetic. You used to make insightful comments. Sorry you've fallen this low.
It doesn't matter how racist you believe she is - two wrongs....— Stand for Something - It is bad, but the "let them eat cake" line is funny, and related to Paris! So it's educational too! — mjc1
- The Marie Antoinette gag has been circulating for about a week. I agree with SfS. Racist comments against the superintendent give support to her claim that the only reason people object to her policies and salary is because she's an African American woman. Considering that the largest group to suffer under her reign are African American children, the bitter irony of such statements is obvious.
I won't stand with bigots. Yes, I believe Ackerman should go - because of her greed, incompetence, inflated ego and indifference those she has made suffer. Don't care about her gender or color, nor to I care what the next superintendent looks like. I just want someone who understands how kids learn, truly learn, rather than someone who would force scripts into every teacher's hand, then blame then when programs that have been discredited for years fail to work.
— Devoted Teacher - What is the guarantee on Teflon? Speak to anyone that is involved in schools. Large gains in any one year are only accomplished one way..CHEATING !!!— bull****meter
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- It's very concerning to me when the state's highest education officer uses words like "concerning"...— CrotchetyOldMan
- Please don't waste money from the property tax hike on a district-led investigation! You've seen the response to the Roosevelt scandal. Get state investigators here now!
When cheating is discovered, I hope the root cause - test obsession and threats by the Ackerman administration to fire principals of schools where AYP isn't made - will be considered when contemplating consequences.— Devoted Teacher - Are you concerned that principals and others who forced teachers to prompt their students during the test will attempt to lay all of the blame on them? That seems like something deep within the realm of possibility. — Stand for Something
- I would like to think that if that sort of scenario happened at my school, I'd go to the union, rather than buckle under the pressure to cheat. I don't see how it can be defensible. And yes, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the teachers as the sole scapegoat for this mess. — Devoted Teacher
- More big government Republican spending. Just what we need. More regulations. More spending on non-education activities. How many more teachers need to get laid off to pay for this investigation? How much will it cost? These idiots have already decimated education funding. What happens if a school cheated? Do they get more cuts in funding on top of the funding cuts they've already made? Guess they'll need to teach without text books, pencils, pens. Great time to be a teacher.— MikeP
- Any teacher who gives into the pressure to "coach" prior to or during the PSSA tests is a moron and deserves to lose their state teaching certification and job. The truth of the matter is that these reports are not "irregularities" in test security, but rather "regularities" in the SDP. District administrators also order principals to instruct teachers to give report card grades for subjects that were NOT taken in order to boast scores in another category of the PSSA scoring criteria.— Boru
- That's it we got her now ur done queen arlene— the commodore
- Hey Repubs.--This is why there is tenure to make sure that people can step forward and report this BS. Exactly what happened at Roosevelt.— mick-of-the-moment
- Turn that fat bloated sop Michael Masch upside down and make him reveal the truth about all of the $$$ he's been stealing from the taxpayer.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Are the foxes being asked to guard the henhouse again? Is a cheater going to decide if another cheater is cheating, I.e. SDP deciding if charter schools are cheating. This is a quagmire of the worst kind. Charterschoolfailure.com. What happened to those charter school being investigated for absconding with the people's money and a myriad of other crimes?— CornFlower
- Crotchety Old Man, your comment is soooo cool!!!— CornFlower
- When you all think of the billions of dollars that have gone into the test publishing industry, doesn't it make you ill?
— Magistra - THIS IS IN RESPONSE TO SDP_STAFF. WITH RACIST COMMENTS LIKE THAT, I SURELY HOPE YOU DO NOT TEACH BLACK CHILDREN. WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO DO IS THINK....THE MAJORITY OF TEACHERS IN THE DISTRICT ARE WHITE, YET OUR SCORES ARE AT ISSUE......LOW EXPECTATIONS POSSIBLY??? IF YOU ARE A RACIST, PLEASE TEACH YOUR OWN AND ALLOW THE PHILADELPHIA CHILDREN TO LEARN WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS.— BLK_SDP_STAFF
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
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