Birmingham, AL: Cheating alleged on Standford Exams (article)

[Anne Nonniemouse <ShopMathEdu@AOL.COM>]

Dear Fair Test list folks:
This is from today's Birmingham New Metro section.
Is anyone from FairTest available to work with us and assist us on this 
effort?
Many students' careers and teachers' jobs are on the line here.

===================
© 2000 Alabama Live, LLC
All rights
reserved.

CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION Cheating alleged on Stanford exams 
06/14/2000

CHARLES J. DEAN
News staff writer 

A Birmingham Board of Education member claimed Tuesday that some city high 
schools may have cheated on April's annual Stanford Achievement Test by 
dropping poorly performing students from school rolls before the exam. 

"It appears significant numbers of high-school students from several city 
high schools having low grades and poor attendance records were withdrawn 
from school in early spring, specifically to prevent them from taking the SAT 
test, and thereby prevent lowering the school's scores," Virginia Volker said 
in a prepared statement. 

Dr. Volker went on to claim that dropped students have been told by school 
administrators they can return when classes resume in August but with no 
offer of tutoring to assist them academically. 

"This is cruel, unethical and not in keeping with our policy of educating all 
students to the best of their ability," wrote Dr. Volker. 

But Dr. Volker's allegation never made it onto Tuesday's school board agenda 
- nor did much else. That's because the board's first scheduled meeting in 
three weeks never made it beyond the starting gates. 

The meeting abruptly ended after two deadlocked 2-2 votes. 

The first came when board President Larry Coleman and board member Annie 
Davis refused Dr. Volker's request to include a discussion of Stanford 
cheating on the agenda. Then Dr. Volker and board member Mary Moore voted 
against Coleman's and Mrs. Davis' attempt to get Tuesday's agenda approved.

No agenda means no meeting.

Board member Daryl Lee who usually votes with Coleman and Mrs. Davis, was 
absent from Tuesday's meeting, making tie votes possible.

Tuesday's skirmishes were the latest in a struggle between, on one side, Dr. 
Volker and Mrs. Moore and on the other Coleman, Lee, and Mrs. Davis.  The 
latter three members have refused to allow Mrs. Moore or Dr. Volker to 
include discussion items on the board's genda unless the two have made their 
concerns known before meeting day.

Dr. Volker said she has tried to get information about possible Stanford 
cheating with little success.  That, and the refusal of the board to allowo 
her to put the issue on the agenda, was part of why she put her concerns in 
writing.

In her letter, Dr. Volker requested a report from school system officials on 
the allegations she has heard from teachers, parents, and students about the 
nationally normed achievement test, which Alabama uses to judge the 
performance of schools.

But school system senior administrator Mallory Coats, who is in charge of 
high school operations, saidhe has investigated Dr. Volker's concerns.

"Nothing out of the ordinary has gone on," Coats said Tuesday.  "There's just 
nothing to it."

    Dr. Volker said the only response toher concerns from Coats of 
Superintendent Johnny Brown was a recent one-line letter saying they found no 
wrong-doing.  Yet,Dr. VOlker said she has talked with teachers, parents and 
some students, all of whom told her the same thing --- that schools were 
dropping students from the rolls or expelling them before the test.

"Our policy is to educate all children to the best of their ability --- not 
to toss them out because they have a lack of interest or they are not going 
to do well on the SAT," said Dr. Volker.

=============end of article==============

© 2000 The Birmingham News. Used with permission. 

 

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