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MOSTLY POOR, BLACK DISTRICTS MOST LIKELY TO BE SUSPECTED OF CHEATING
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http://www.houstonpress.com/1998/022599/feature1-1.html
The Fix is In Are Educators Cheating on the TAAS?  Is Anyone Going to
Stop Them?


"Every single eligible fourth grader passed both the reading and math
portions of the test, boosting the school from a rating of
"acceptable" to "recognized."


"Overnight and after the test, the answer forms are in the control of
the school administration. During those periods, the testing
coordinator is permitted to darken light answers and erase stray
marks on the answer forms to prevent the computer from misreading
them."


"26 of 29 schools with more than five classes showing up on the
analysis are in one of three sub-districts...Those districts, she
notes, have higher levels of poverty and more low-performing schools,
schools that might have difficulty coping with cranked-up pressure to
pass the TAAS."


"there is nothing short of integrity to stop a school from
artificially raising scores, and the list of required equipment is
short: All you need is a No. 2 pencil with a good eraser."


Whistle blower Ada Johnson was removed from her job for two years.


"Morgan was permitted to keep the answer forms for three extra days."
..Morgan made her own answer key for the test"


""Several test booklets were marked with the original answer choice,
yet were not marked with the change in answer choice. Others showed
the change, but whereas the original marking was in marker or pencil,
the change was made in a different medium."


"Students were retested, but only 56% vs 88.4% passed the test, a
_slight_ decline"


 The nearly all-black inner-city school had outdone itself since the
previous year, when only 54 percent of the school's fourth-graders
had passed the reading portion of the all-important TAAS, and even
fewer, 37 percent, passed in math, a chillingly low figure for any
HISD principal.