Evidence shows state-test cheating in Philadelphia schools likely far worse than previously revealed [infographic]
Additional reporting by Dale Mezzacappa of the Public School Notebook; Infographic by Todd Vachon
The scope of the Philadelphia School District’s problem with suspicious erasures on state standardized tests is far more widespread than officials have publicly revealed.
But so far state and district investigators have launched deeper probes into suspected cheating at only a third of the 53 schools where strong evidence was found.
Confidential documents and information obtained by WHYY/Newsworks and the Public School Notebook show that many of the 53 schools were flagged across multiple grades, subjects, and years for extremely high rates of “wrong-to-right” erasures on test answer forms. The documents include results from erasure analyses conducted in 2010 and 2011, which state officials have refused to make public.
Read the rest of this story and see the infographic our partners at NewsWorks put together showing suspicious erasures on a school-by-school basis.
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