A GBI agent testified Wednesday during an Atlanta Public Schools tribunal that former M.A. Jones Elementary School teacher Corliss Love signaled students to change wrong answers to right answers by telling them repeatedly to “check your work” when she administered the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
The three-person tribunal heard the one hour, 28 minute recording of Agent Eugene Howard’s interview of Corliss, during which he repeatedly asked her if she told students to change wrong answers to right answers. She repeatedly responded that she told no individual students to change answers but rather reminded the entire class to “check your work.”
According to the APS charge letter, Corliss confessed to the GBI agent that she instructed students to change wrong answers to right answers. Love’s attorney, Bill Amideo, repeatedly hammered Howard on that and other points during a cross-examination that lasted for about two hours, extracting an admission from Howard that he did not report that Corliss “confessed.”
Howard also conceded on the stand that in his summary he provided to APS administrators he left out some of Love’s explanations of how she behaved, and why, during the test. The agent testified that APS administrators based their charges of cheating against Love on his summary and did not listen to the interview.
At times, Love sounded confused during the interview as she explained that she was encouraging students to pay attention but she wasn’t, as she understood it, breaking testing rules.
Howard asked her how she could explain why there were so many wrong answers erased and changed to right answers on M.A. Jones tests, which led analysts to conclude there was cheating.
“Think about it,” Love said on the tape. “When you don’t know math, you’re going to go back and erase.” Love admitted she instructed one student to change an answer when she noticed the student put two answers on one line. But that is acceptable under testing guidelines, Georgia Department of Education expert Anthony Eitel testified.
Three students testified Love did not help them with answers during the 2009 CRCT tests, though she frequently instructed them to pay attention to their answers.
At the end of the GBI tape Howard summarized what he had concluded from the interview: Love had prompted students to change answers, she was not sure they changed the answers, but she “assumes they did.” Love did not disagree with the statement.
Then she urged the agent: “And tell them please let me keep my job.”
Amideo said he will call Love to the stand during a second day of testimony, not yet scheduled. After the hearing concludes, the tribunal will vote for or against Love’s termination and the school board will make the final decision.
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