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Editorial on test scores

Original post made on Sep 10, 2007

Let's get this straight. An eighth-grade physical science teacher at Hart Middle School hand copied questions from a 2005 practice science Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test that students completed and placed on the teacher's desk. The teacher later made photocopies and shared it with other middle school science teachers during a 15- to 30-minute meeting they had in the early summer 2006 as they were preparing that school year's physical science curriculum. Their objective was to update classroom material to make sure students were well prepared for the coming year's course work and the tests they would face. At no time did any student ever see the teacher's copy of the 2005 test questions nor were any tests or test results compromised in any of the schools. Yet last week, the California Department of Education (CDE) announced that because high test scores resulted after a handwritten copy of the 2005 test questions had been used to prepare course material for 2006, the 2006 test scores from Pleasanton Middle School would be invalidated and not included in the 2007 Academic Performance Index (API) rankings.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, September 7, 2007, 12:00 AM

Comments (2)

Posted by Cynthia
a resident of Livermore
on Sep 10, 2007 at 10:46 am

Thank you for your article on Pleasanton Middle School's test scores being thrown out. The state's penalty was absolutely ridiculous and I'm so glad someone finally spoke the truth!

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Posted by Richard
a resident of Mohr Park
on Sep 12, 2007 at 12:37 pm

I am appalled that you would brush off this teacher's actions as a "mistake". Hand copying test materials and sharing them with teachers at other schools who could benefit, after having signed an affidavit agreeing not to share such information can hardly be characterized as a mistake. All of our great schools teach that Pleasanton is a Community of Character - Responsibility, Honesty, Integrity. None of these characteristics are evidenced by this teacher's actions, which were planned and carried out over a period of time, not just a mistake. This teacher has lost all semblance of integrity and should be dismissed.

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Editorial on test scores

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