Fourteen Florida school districts asked to investigate possible FCAT cheating

[n2doc]

Gary Fineout, 06/15/2011 - 06:52 PM

Fourteen school districts across Florida have been asked by the Department of Education to investigate whether or not cheating went on during this year’s high-stakes testing.

A DOE spokesman on Wednesday said that the department has confirmed a high level of erasures on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test at schools in these districts. Thomas Butler said the state by law cannot identify the schools or any personnel involved until after the investigation is complete.

But DOE did reveal the names of the 14 districts: Broward, Miami-Dade, Duval, Flagler, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Orange, Palm Beach, Polk and Seminole.

There have been scandals recently across the country involving incidents where teachers erased wrong answers and then put in the right answers on standardized tests. The outgoing Atlanta schools superintendent last month acknowledged widespread cheating in that school district. USA Today earlier this year ran articles questioning erasures at schools in the district once run by noted education reformer Michelle Rhee.

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http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=23404780