13 schools bear further investigation for cheating; 325 teachers recalled
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
13 schools bear further investigation for cheating; 325 teachers recalled
Kristen Graham
4:10 p.m.
Officials from the Philadelphia School District's accountability office said today that they had "many concerns" about the data analysis used by the state to flag 28 district schools for possible 2009 PSSA cheating. Still, they said, the district will cooperate with the state and hopes for more complete information. Among the data it wants before coming to any conclusions are forensic analyses of the 2010 and 2011 PSSAs.
Of the 28 schools the district was directed to analyze, 13 schools bear further investigation because they have big jumps in test scores and flags for erasures on exams. The district declined to name the schools, and said it hopes the state helps conduct those investigations when the time comes. The rest of the schools do not merit further investigation, officials said.
Fran Newburg, the district's Deputy Chief of Accountability and Educational Technology, said the district "takes very seriously these allegations" but stressed that most principals and teachers are honest and do good work. Newburg encouraged any staffer with information about cheating to come forward to the district or the state with specifics. In many cases, "I think what we have is very vague allegations against schools," said Daniel Piotrowski, Executive Director of Accountability and Assessment.
Newburg also said that even if the 13 schools are taken out of the picture, the district would still have nine straight years of test score gains.
In other news, the district recently said that it is recalling 325 teachers who were laid off in June. It has 1,335 teaching positions to fill for the upcoming school year. "Over the next couple of weeks, additional teachers may be invited to return to positions in the school district," spokeswoman Elizabeth Childs said in a release. "This process follows the collective bargaining agreement providing teachers with the most seniority within a subject area priority in the re-hiring."
EARLIER:
The Philadelphia School District has called a 2 p.m. press conference to discuss its response to a state report that flagged 28 schools for possible irregularities on the 2009 PSSAs. The district was given 30 days to investigate and respond to the report.
Presenting will be Francis Newburg, Deputy Chief of Accountability and Educational Technology, Daniel Piotrowski, Executive Director of Accountability and Assessment, and Leroy Nunery, the district’s deputy superintendent. Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman is not scheduled to attend. I’ll bring you more as it happens. Follow me on Twitter @newskag, or check back here for my live Tweets.
Comment removed.- My how you've changed. It used to be you'd follow your first salvo - um, comment - with two or three consecutive, individual paragraphs.
In this case you could have taken a page from your party's toast-of-Iowa candidate when she infamously ranted and raved using incorrect information and in some cases outright lies to sermonize on a trip - junket? - by President Obama.
Fact Check: "economic, environmental and health benefits of green cities" = little direct purpose. Wrong! - Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
Man, this district is manipulative. They truly believe that most people are stupid and can't see their games. Blows my mind. Seeing a multi-year analysis is irrelevant when it comes to suspicious erasure marks. And then announcing that 325 teachers are being rehired - are we supposed to cheer "YAY SCHOOL DISTRICT! YOU PUT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THROUGH EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL STRESS AND NOW YOU'RE HEROES FOR REHIRING 325 TEACHERS WHO SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN LAID OFF IF YOU HAD BEEN BALANCING YOUR BUDGET PROPERLY!"? Disgusting.— omseeker- Arlene is busy erasing wrong answers on tests so she doesn't have time to attend the meeting.— mindstorms
- The test score gains are at best artificial and at worst totally fraudulent. There is no credible evidence of academic gains.— readingspecialist
- Atlanta Public School redux: They will blame the pressure of the testing, blame it on No Child Left Behind, pressure from admin to do it or lose their jobs, or they will claim ignorance. Few if any will admit that they have abdicated their morals and ethics for the money or awards. The children are the ones that have lost so much in these cheating scandals.— Melaine
- Sweet. Even the appearance of forward progress in this country Obama is selling is, in fact, snake oil. Fake numbers. Students who are not really students like workers who aren't really working. This country is already in Hell in a hand basket, not going there anymore. Maybe the Mayor can give another good speech. He seems to be the only person left standing in Philly with the guts to speak up.— Mary Wright
- Yeah. Like all those shovel ready jobs that were promised, that Oblama had to later admit, never happened. Now, there is a proposal for another job deal......and the cost of creating EACH job is TWO MILLION DOLLARS !!!!!! Is this not madness? It is as if someone is engineering the total destruction of this nation for inside. Like they've hatched a cancer in America that will consume us. Thanks Oblama...as you survey a ravaged and ruined nation, you can say "My work here is done"
— Henry Howard Earl of Surrey - I'm thinking a new 5 year plan to SOS is on the near horizon. I think this will be the 6th or 7th in my memory.— tr88
- Would this be on "Queenie's" watch???? But she don't know notin', it's all about the children. Don't let the door hit you on the way out impostor.— dogman5
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- This can't be true, Queenie and her minions do everything by the book. Don't they???— waltv
- A bunch of baseless allegations at this point. The cirteria for flagging schools sounds fair if the data supported it. The school district should cooperate. But if it turns out that there was no cheating, the state should be investigated.— MikeP
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.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
