D.C.'s Noyes School Joins Others Under Investigation For Suspicious Standardized Test Patterns
In the last few years, Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus in D.C. has become the poster child for education reform, with its remarkable increase in standardized test scores. But Monday's investigation by USA Today about the possibility of cheating on the school's standardized tests may burst that bubble.
USA Today reports that from 2006 to 2008, the percentage of Noyes students who scored "proficient" or "advanced" on math standardized tests increased from 10 percent to 58 percent; reading scores followed the same trend. The dramatic improvements prompted a number of accolades: the U.S. Department of Education named the school a Blue Ribbon School; then-Chancellor of D.C. Schools Michelle Rhee rewarded Noyes' staff with bonuses for boosting scores and made the school a symbol of how her education reform strategies could transform schools; and last year, D.C. schools won an extra $75 million in federal monies in the U.S. government's Race to the Top competition, which factored in test scores.
However, in a detailed description of their investigation, USA Today reveals that for the past three school years, most of Noyes' classrooms had extraordinarily high numbers of erasures on standardized tests; wrong answers were erased and changed to right ones at a statistically improbable rate. It reports:
On the 2009 reading test, for example, seventh-graders in one Noyes classroom averaged 12.7 wrong-to-right erasures per student on answer sheets; the average for seventh-graders in all D.C. schools on that test was less than 1. The odds are better for winning the Powerball grand prize than having that many erasures by chance, according to statisticians consulted by USA Today.
In 2007-08, six classrooms out of the eight taking tests at Noyes were flagged by McGraw-Hill, D.C.'s testing company, because of high wrong-to-right erasure rates (measured by the same scanners used to score the tests). The pattern was repeated in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, when 80 percent of Noyes' classrooms were again flagged by McGraw-Hill.
There are other explanations for multiple erasures besides cheating, such as educators advising their students to go back and check their work. But, as Thomas Haladyna, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who has studied testing for 20 years, told USA Today, in cases like Noyes' -- when whole classes at schools with dramatic increases in test scores show statistically rare erasures -- there's a need for thorough investigation.
This is the latest in a multitude of standardized test investigations coming to light in the last several months. A USA Today investigation of the standardized tests of millions of students in six states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Ohio -- and the District of Columbia found a large number of irregularities:
The newspaper identified 1,610 examples of anomalies in which public school classes -- a school's entire fifth grade, for example -- boasted what analysts regard as statistically rare, perhaps suspect, gains on state tests.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, similar indications of potential cheating in Atlanta schools prompted an investigation by federal authorities into whether Atlanta Public Schools illicitly boosted scores on standardized tests. Since then, the district has been under fire for allegedly using intimidation to dissuade potential witnesses.
USA Today reports that from 2006 to 2008, the percentage of Noyes students who scored "proficient" or "advanced" on math standardized tests increased from 10 percent to 58 percent; reading scores followed the same trend. The dramatic improvements prompted a number of accolades: the U.S. Department of Education named the school a Blue Ribbon School; then-Chancellor of D.C. Schools Michelle Rhee rewarded Noyes' staff with bonuses for boosting scores and made the school a symbol of how her education reform strategies could transform schools; and last year, D.C. schools won an extra $75 million in federal monies in the U.S. government's Race to the Top competition, which factored in test scores.
However, in a detailed description of their investigation, USA Today reveals that for the past three school years, most of Noyes' classrooms had extraordinarily high numbers of erasures on standardized tests; wrong answers were erased and changed to right ones at a statistically improbable rate. It reports:
On the 2009 reading test, for example, seventh-graders in one Noyes classroom averaged 12.7 wrong-to-right erasures per student on answer sheets; the average for seventh-graders in all D.C. schools on that test was less than 1. The odds are better for winning the Powerball grand prize than having that many erasures by chance, according to statisticians consulted by USA Today.
In 2007-08, six classrooms out of the eight taking tests at Noyes were flagged by McGraw-Hill, D.C.'s testing company, because of high wrong-to-right erasure rates (measured by the same scanners used to score the tests). The pattern was repeated in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, when 80 percent of Noyes' classrooms were again flagged by McGraw-Hill.
There are other explanations for multiple erasures besides cheating, such as educators advising their students to go back and check their work. But, as Thomas Haladyna, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who has studied testing for 20 years, told USA Today, in cases like Noyes' -- when whole classes at schools with dramatic increases in test scores show statistically rare erasures -- there's a need for thorough investigation.
This is the latest in a multitude of standardized test investigations coming to light in the last several months. A USA Today investigation of the standardized tests of millions of students in six states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Ohio -- and the District of Columbia found a large number of irregularities:
The newspaper identified 1,610 examples of anomalies in which public school classes -- a school's entire fifth grade, for example -- boasted what analysts regard as statistically rare, perhaps suspect, gains on state tests.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, similar indications of potential cheating in Atlanta schools prompted an investigation by federal authorities into whether Atlanta Public Schools illicitly boosted scores on standardized tests. Since then, the district has been under fire for allegedly using intimidation to dissuade potential witnesses.
Donald Trump Birth Certificate Released By Potential Presidential Candidate [UPDATED]
Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump released his birth certificate exclusively to Newsmax on Monday, the news outlet reports.
An image of the document featured on the organization's website indicates that Trump was born at the Jamaica Hospital in New York on June 14, 1946.
Trump questioned whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States during a phone interview on "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning. "He could have been born outside of this country," he said before asking, "Why can't he produce a birth certificate?"
Just last week, Trump found himself in a fiery exchange with Whoopi Goldberg while discussing the issue during an appearance on "The View." Here's the background on the drama that went down:
Trump appeared on the ABC show last week and set Goldberg off by saying that there was "something on [Obama's] birth certificate that he doesn't like." Goldberg called this "the biggest pile of dog mess I've heard in ages" and asked, "it's not 'cause he's black, is it? ...Because I've never heard any white President asked to be shown the birth certificate."
On Monday's "Fox and Friends," Trump struck back. Asked if his comments had anything to do with race, he said, "absolutely not. I like Whoopi. I've always had a good relationship with Whoopi...but frankly, I mean, I think that's insulting that she brings up--what does that have to do with race?"
Trump said on Monday morning that the president's birthplace is an issue that has him "really concerned."
Story continues below
AdvertisementHe told Newsmax it took him only an hour to get his birth certificate. "It's inconceivable that after four years of questioning, the president still hasn't produced his birth certificate," he said. "I'm just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why's he making an issue out of this?"
Politico's Ben Smith notes:
As I wrote earlier, an official copy of Obama's birth certificate -- the same thing Trump would have to prove his own birth -- has been available and online for more than three years.
UPDATE: Ben Smith reports that the document released by Trump on Monday does not appear to be the potential presidential contender's official birth certificate. Officials told Politico's Maggie Haberman that if it were, it'd be marked with the seal of the Department of Health, as well as the signature of the city registrar, which do not appear on the image of the document posted on the Newsmax website.
Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."
Smith notes that the document offered by Trump was likely given by the hospital to his family.
An image of the document featured on the organization's website indicates that Trump was born at the Jamaica Hospital in New York on June 14, 1946.
Trump questioned whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States during a phone interview on "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning. "He could have been born outside of this country," he said before asking, "Why can't he produce a birth certificate?"
Just last week, Trump found himself in a fiery exchange with Whoopi Goldberg while discussing the issue during an appearance on "The View." Here's the background on the drama that went down:
Trump appeared on the ABC show last week and set Goldberg off by saying that there was "something on [Obama's] birth certificate that he doesn't like." Goldberg called this "the biggest pile of dog mess I've heard in ages" and asked, "it's not 'cause he's black, is it? ...Because I've never heard any white President asked to be shown the birth certificate."
On Monday's "Fox and Friends," Trump struck back. Asked if his comments had anything to do with race, he said, "absolutely not. I like Whoopi. I've always had a good relationship with Whoopi...but frankly, I mean, I think that's insulting that she brings up--what does that have to do with race?"
Trump said on Monday morning that the president's birthplace is an issue that has him "really concerned."
Story continues below
AdvertisementHe told Newsmax it took him only an hour to get his birth certificate. "It's inconceivable that after four years of questioning, the president still hasn't produced his birth certificate," he said. "I'm just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why's he making an issue out of this?"
Politico's Ben Smith notes:
As I wrote earlier, an official copy of Obama's birth certificate -- the same thing Trump would have to prove his own birth -- has been available and online for more than three years.
UPDATE: Ben Smith reports that the document released by Trump on Monday does not appear to be the potential presidential contender's official birth certificate. Officials told Politico's Maggie Haberman that if it were, it'd be marked with the seal of the Department of Health, as well as the signature of the city registrar, which do not appear on the image of the document posted on the Newsmax website.
Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."
Smith notes that the document offered by Trump was likely given by the hospital to his family.
