Schools under cheating scrutiny take a tumble
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
Schools under cheating scrutiny take a tumble
Kristen Graham
UPDATE, 2 p.m.
Across Pennsylvania, scores fell statewide for the first time since the PSSA was first administered, in 2002. Read the full story here.
UPDATE, noon.
Philadelphia School District officials, reacting to the state's release of PSSA and AYP data that shows big drops for city schools, said they will be conducting a "full review" to determine what may have caused scores to drop. They will look at both test security and the implications of decreased funding to schools.
"These results are clearly disappointing - and they simply remind us of the work we have ahead in developing a strong system of schools in Philadelphia and in supporting our students' learning,” William Hite, the new superintendent, said in a statement. “We must continue to focus on the basics that will allow our students to succeed in the classroom and that is to ensure the best possible teaching and learning environments, supporting our teachers and principals, and empowering our parents."
Speaking to cheating allegations, Hite said that “the allegations of cheating that have clouded the PSSA test results are disturbing. Adult cheating is a great disservice to our students. It will not be tolerated and there is no room in our District for any adult involved in cheating. We plan to take aggressive action against any individual found to have committed this type of injustice on our students.”
District officials noted that while districtwide scores tumbled overall, individual schools may continue to show growth performance.
EARLIER: The results of the 2012 Pennsylvania System of Standards Assessment are in, and for the Philadelphia School District, they’re stunning.
Last year, 110 schools made “Adequate Yearly Progress.” This year, it’s only 33.
That’s a 70 percent drop.
That’s 13 percent of the district’s 249 2011-12 schools. (There are fewer schools this year, with closures and conversions to charter schools.)
And after nine straight years of test score gains system-wide, the district's scores fell this year - 50 percent of student met state standards in math, and 45 percent in reading. That's down from 59 percent of students hitting the mark in math last year, and 52 percent in reading.
The standards schools had to meet in order to hit “Adequate Yearly Progress” as measured by the federal No Child Left Behind law got tougher. That clearly drove the numbers lower.
The district lost hundreds of millions in funding last year; there were two brutal rounds of classroom cuts. That obviously factored in, too.
But so did the fact that since the 2011 PSSAs were administered, a cheating scandal was exposed and for the first time, the state and district imposed unprecedented security measures - everything from forbidding teachers from administering test to their own students to requiring teachers and test administrators to sign documents acknowledging if they cheated they’d be subjected to criminal penalties.
The schools that made AYP are: Academy at Palumbo, AMY NW, Barton, Bodine High, Bridesburg, Carver High School for Engineering and Science, Central High, Comly, Constitution High, Conwell Middle, Cook-Wissahickon, CAPA High, DeBurgos, Dobson, Fitler, Anne Frank, GAMP, Greenberg, Hancock, Hill-Freedman, A.S. Jenks, J.S. Jenks, LaBrum, Masterman, McCall, Meredith, MYA, Parkway West, Penn Alexander, Phila HS for Business and Technology, Powel, Science Leadership Academy and Shawmont.
Of those schools that met state standards, about half, 16 of 33, are special admissions school where students must meet academic standards to gain admission.
Eleven schools saw passing scores decline by at least a third in one or both subjects from the year before. Philadelphia Military Academy at Elverson had the biggest single drop - 71 percent in math between 2012 and 2011.
At two schools where teachers and others came forward to The Inquirer to report that cheating occurred - Cayuga Elementary in Hunting Park and Roosevelt Middle School in East Germantown - scores decreased dramatically.
Roosevelt fell 27 percent in math and 38 percent in reading, year-to-year. Since 2009, the school’s math scores have plummeted - dropping 51 percent.
Cayuga fell 36 percent in math and 31 percent in reading. Since 2009, the school’s reading scores fell 48 percent.
More to come.
Glad to see my son's school on the list, but still feel that PSSA is not the way to judge a school or a teacher. There is one child in my son's school who is a great student, all A's on tests and school work. Scored basic in both Math and Reading. Pressure of the doing well got to her.— phillymom1967- No, you're right, the PSSA scores are not as important. What is important is the level of cheating that has been going on. The District can try to spin it but the fact is that the interim measures of constraint that the PA DOE placed on the schools for the last round of tests showed with little doubt the level of massive wholesale cheating that has been going on. Not only did they teach to the test, but they illegally and immorally intervened in many of the previous years. I reported what I knew to the DOE investigators. After that, my school was placed on the investigated list. They routinely made AYP UNTIL NOW THAT IS. I saw all sorts of cheating at different levels up to the principal. To cap it off, once an emotionally unstable aide confess to me in a weak moment that she participated in massive cheating with two other fifth grade teachers. Those illicit scores rocketed our school to the top of the city schools that year and no one from the State DOE investigated. The State DOE admitted last year that they too were asleep at the switch, as it were, during those years. My school got away with it and instead of cowering in the corner with relief that they were not caught, they flaunted it. The old saying of tell a lie often enough and it becomes true aptly describes the cheaters at my school. They got really good at cheating the few years after that. I watched them over the years in disbelief. It took me a few years to connect all of the dots. I reported everything. The cheating was so egregious at that school that I am in full support of people loosing jobs and pensions and maybe even facing prosecution. A mere slap on the wrist is NOT SUFFICIENT in this matter. These people must be outed publicly and tried in the court of public opinion.
- SMH!!!— FRESH_SP
- schools focus so much on the test but how else are can progress be made, the teachers will always say the kids are progressing.— criminal justice prof
- ....so really, only 17 traditional admissions schools made the cut?— reasonableihope
- No grades for kids, no grades for teachers, a utopian world for all.— sandiego1969
Wow! two possibilities here: A. As soon as Arlene Ackerman left, the lofty standards and high expectations under her divine leadership went all to hell. B. Everyone was cheating their asses off....and the test was so corrupt, that only with the intervention of the state and jail time were these foul balls forced to run an honest test. Hmmmmmmm. I wonder which one it could be? (HTML deleted)- Maybe if we throw more money at them scores will get better, The whole public school system is a joke, They actually think that a 39% graduation is an improvement— rblack
- phillymom: if the pressure to pass a test is to much for that kid she is never going to amount to anything in the private sector workforce. Also where is the follow up article that tells us how many teachers and admins were fired/arrested for this cheating scandal? The reason nothing ever changes is because no one is ever held accountable.— Taxpaying Voter
- Taxpaying Voter: 3rd graders take the test, so your convinced they wont contribute to the workforce if they don't do well on a 5 day, 15 hr state test ?— ronre
- Mix an insane law that requires 100% of all students to be on grade level by a certain date with a school system that has laid off thousands of employees, A public school population that is poverty-stricken and a city that has the 2nd lowest average family income ot the 25 largest American cities and the result is what it is. The people who criticize public schools do not understand that the public, through its elected and appointed officials,makes the rules and reguloations that public schools must follow.— Drumgoole
- Oh, Drumgoole, THANK YOU FOR BEING THE VOICE OF SANITY! I can't believe how many people are STILL intent on NOT SEEING THE REAL PROBLEM, and blaming the teachers who are caught in a broken, flawed system.
HIGH-STAKES TESTING ALWAYS HAS AND WILL CREATE AND FOSTER A CULTURE OF BLAME AND CHEATING!— Kate_the_Teacher - ALl of those schools are very well run, some magnet, some special admit. They are the only schools the district cares about. Parents need to show outrage and demand a proper education for their children. Where are the charter schools results? We all know they don't cheat!— dontlikedems
- You are wrong. Half of those schools are normal neighborhood schools, not magnet or special admit. Everybody at those schools cares, from the teachers to parents to students. They all work together without special treatment from the district. Parents at a lot of schools don't give a hoot until something like this comes out. They need to start caring now! — jkhoop
- We have an astounding number of incompetent teachers trying to teach incompetent students who were birthed by incompetent parents. That's where it all starts-----with irresponsible parents.— wlkelly
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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