The special investigators' report released Tuesday found cheating in 44 schools on Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests. These schools were among 58 identified by a state review last year as exhibiting an abnormal number of answers changed from wrong to right. Of the 58 schools identified by the state, part 1 includes a list of the highest percentage of classes flagged, with summaries of findings from the investigators' report. They are listed in order of the percentage of classrooms flagged in the state's 2010 review. (MAP of schools flagged )
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HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF CLASSES FLAGGED
These 12 schools previously were identified by the district’s Blue Ribbon Commission as most likely to have cheated. Here’s what the state investigation found in those schools, according to the report.
Parks Middle
1090 Windsor St. S.W.
Enrollment: 417
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 92%
Classes flagged: 89.5%
The investigation found 13 educators cheated; seven confessed.
Gideons Elementary
897 Welch St. S.W.
Enrollment: 610
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 98%
Classes flagged: 88.4%
Twelve educators confessed to cheating, including now-retired principal Armstead Salters, the reports says. Salters ran a “coordinated school-wide cheating scheme,” that gradually initiated new teachers. Testing coordinator Sheridan Rogers directed teachers to prepare answer keys to facilitate changing students’ answers. One group of teachers held a “changing party” at a teacher’s Douglas County home. Salters and Rogers told others not to tell the truth to investigators.
Peyton Forest Elementary
301 Peyton Road S.W.
Enrollment: 481
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 91%
Classes flagged: 86.1%
Ten cheated; none confessed. One teacher said she was given an advance copy of the test and the report says evidence showed other teachers also were given tests in advance. Principal Karen Barlow-Brown knew of this, the reports says. She said she did not know.
F. L. Stanton Elementary
1625 M. L. King Jr. Drive N.W.
Enrollment: 299
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 96%
Classes flagged: 83.3%
Principal Marlo Barber and two others cheated, the report says. One teacher confessed to using a non-verbal signal to alert students when an answer was wrong. Barber and the testing coordinator stayed after school to change test answers. Barber asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions.
Usher/Collier Heights Elementary
631 Harwell Road N.W.
Enrollment: 406
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 96%
Classes flagged: 78.4%
Principal Gwendolyn Rogers and testing coordinator Donald Bullock orchestrated answer changes, the report says; three teachers confessed to cheating. Bullock asked teachers if they needed to “review” test papers to make sure students did well and then made the completed tests available for review. Rogers and Bullock denied the allegations.
Venetian Hills Elementary
1910 Venetian Drive S.W.
Enrollment: 419
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 100%
Classes flagged: 75.4%
Cheating occurred from 2004 to 2009, involving eight people, including Principal Clarietta Davis, the report says; six confessed. A group of teachers gathered in the office of testing coordinator Milagros Moner to change wrong answers to right. Davis wore gloves to avoid fingerprints when she changed answers in her office, the investigators report. They said Davis did not deny cheating, but refused to answer questions.
Capitol View Elementary
1442 Metropolitan Parkway S.W.
Enrollment: 265
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 99%
Classes flagged: 70.8%
The report found cheating occurred. Principal Arlene Snowden falsified attendance records and failed to adequately monitor the test. Snowden denied the allegations.
Connally Elementary
1654 S. Alvarado Terrace S.W.
Enrollment: 426
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 99%
Classes flagged: 70.5%
A teacher confessed to allowing a student to change an answer. Although the report says cheating occurred and holds principal Mimi Robinson responsible, it adds that evidence was insufficient to show who changed answers. Robinson asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions.
Dunbar Elementary
500 Whitehall Terrace S.W.
Enrollment: 231
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 100%
Classes flagged: 68.6%
One teacher confessed to sitting in the computer lab with other teachers, “cleaning up” test papers by changing answers. Seven others are implicated.
Scott Elementary
1752 Hollywood Road N.W.
Enrollment: 475
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 100%
Classes flagged: 68.0%
The report found two people cheated and principal Roxianne Smith directed others to cheat. She denied it.
Perkerson Elementary
2040 Brewer Blvd. S.W.
Enrollment: 345
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 95%
Classes flagged: 66.7%
Three cheated, none confessed. Principal Mable Johnson condoned cheating, failing to take action when she was told by a district education specialist he saw teachers giving students the right answers, the report says. Johnson’s immediate supervisor, the area superintendent, knew about the cheating and directed a coverup, the report says. Johnson denied the allegations.
Blalock Elementary
1445 Maynard Road N.W. (now closed)
Enrollment: 166
Free/reduced lunch eligibility: 94%
Classes flagged: 66.7%
Evidence pointed to cheating, but was insufficient to implicate anyone.
[END - HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF CLASSES FLAGGED]
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