Pa. looking into possible cheating on state tests

In Pennsylvania, the PSSA is given annually in various grades to assess math and reading skills.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is looking into a report that has surfaced highlighting possible cheating on state standardized tests in at least 35 districts and noting aberrant scores in dozens of others, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The forensic analysis of the 2009 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results does not assert cheating occurred, but says certain answer patterns and erasures make the results suspicious.

Among the school districts identified as having multiple testing irregularities are Philadelphia, Hazleton, Connellsville and Lancaster. Many other districts were cited for one or two inconsistencies.…Read More

More cheating uncovered in city schools

The Baltimore Sun broke a story revealing that an egregious level of cheating had taken place during state assessment testing at two city schools, and one of the schools even went further in fudging attendance records to make annual progress goals mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Officials also said that two more cheating investigations are pending, but declined to name the schools. Abbottston Elementary School and Fort Worthington Elementary School were found to have cheated on the 2009 Maryland School Assessments, city schools CEO and State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick are scheduled to announce in a news conference Thursday…

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