MI's Pontiac School District caught systematically cheating on MEAP state standardized test, STATE COVERING UP!

Just so you all know, the Pontiac School District in the conjoined twin of Detroit Public Schools - run by liberal Democrats right into the ground and they're still digging as I write. In the news yesterday: In Pontiac, was it cheating, or were tests just given the wrong way?

The report found that Longfellow students had nearly perfect fourth-grade math and English scores, suggesting that "either the school is doing a remarkably good job or the scores were changed."

Alcott Elementary also had nearly perfect fourth-grade math and English scores. It also showed "considerable increases" in third- and fourth-grade math, reading, science and social studies, but the state couldn't find enough evidence to support an employee's allegation of cheating.

Let's see, we have students that said they were told to change answers, including ones that said they were told to write their answers first in the test booklet so that there would be no apparent erasures on the answer page, testimony of cheating from teachers, central staff, and parents. So you can clearly see how there's a lack of evidence. I have some experience with this, so I will tell you that there is a massive cover-up going on by th estate. How do I know? Around 10 years ago I was involved with OU Professor (and successful author) Barb Oakley's effort to install Kumon math in the Pontiac School District and specifically in several elementary schools. She turned in cheaters to the state and was promptly dismissed for her effort, and the state did exactly zip, zero and zilch. An email from Professor Oakley based on the above news:

From: Barbara Oakley [mailto:********@oakland.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 9:09 AM
To: ***********@oakland.edu
Subject: RE: Cheating in Pontiac Schools

...

Professor Barbara Oakley

I spent five years working with teachers to implement a new mathematics program in the Pontiac School District, Kumon Mathematics. It achieved stunning success in improvement on the MEAP within the schools that implemented the program. (For example, in 2003, Emerson had 4.5% of its students exceed Michigan standards. In 2004 that number was 8.6%. At Herrington Elementary School, however, where the Kumon program was implemented, the MEAP scores rose from 39.7% to 89.1% of students exceeding state standards during the same single year period.)

I found that MEAP scores from some of the other schools that did not use Kumon math, e.g. Longfellow, had stratospherically high results that were statistically virtually impossible for them to have achieved. My program obviously could not compete with that. No program could have competed with that. The individual in charge of testing for the district at the time, M.J., told me in front of a witness that the reason that the other schools did so well on the MEAPs was that they cheated—he himself had supplied them with solutions in advance, under pressure from the administration.

I turned this information in to the state. As a consequence, my math program and I were kicked out of the district. Even when schools I had worked with raised their own money privately to continue with the program, Mildred Mason, the superintendent, would not allow them to continue. As I was told—the Pontiac school administration was too afraid that I would uncover much more widespread cheating throughout the district. M.J. was fired. The State did nothing about the information I gave them--except to ensure that Pontiac obtained all the information they needed to know that I was the one who had turned them in to the State.

No one ever interviewed the witness who could corroborate the statements about the widespread cheating. No one from the state did anything about this at all—except to serve as protectors of the Pontiac school administration. It’s clear to me that not only should the Pontiac School District be investigated—the State’s own mechanisms for investigating cheating should be investigated. I’m stunned to see the Free Press reporters statement that: “Although the state said it couldn't prove wrongdoing at those schools, investigators said there was ‘an overall pattern of insufficient administrative oversight’ of the MEAP exam district-wide.” If the state couldn’t prove wrongdoing at those schools, it was because it was willfully ignoring the powerful evidence it had at hand.

You can feel free to quote me on this by name.

Warmly,
Barb

I received this follow-up email as well:

From: Barbara Oakley [mailto:********@oakland.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 9:48 AM
To: **********@oakland.edu
Subject: RE: Cheating in Pontiac Schools

Last point. The article pointed out that Crofoot is the only school where allegations were proven. What a coincidence! That is also the only school that was closed some years back.

It’s a lot easier for the state to say “it’s tough to prove cheating”—and then to ignore or incompetently investigate the leads they are given, than to actually put teeth into their work. Something is very wrong on a state level as well as within the schools themselves. When it comes to detecting cheating, we’re not talking rocket science—a competent state administrator could easily and inexpensively apply statistical techniques, as the Free Press has done, zero in on anomalous schools, and then put teeth into their investigative findings. I cannot help but suspect that the director of the state Education Department's Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability is a minimizer—someone who wants to look busy, without actually doing anything that might cause a ruckus. That’s why we see such a pathetic, and apathetic, response from the state in relation to the critical educational needs of our state’s students.

Actually, the freep ought to have been on this years ago. In fact, how about you guys locate MJ (idea: contact Professor Oakley!) and do an interview with him. Where are all of your investigative journalists where Republicans aren't around? Administrators need to lose their jobs over the above disgrace.