What happens if teachers cheat?

From Times archives

I got an anonymous letter this week from a “concerned citizen, parent and educator” in Caddo Parish about a testing violation at a middle school.

The two-page letter, which was mailed to at least three people at The Times, School Board officials and to state Superintendent, Paul Pastorek, implied teachers and/or testing coordinators at Newton Smith Visual and Performing Arts Middle School had somehow seen the writing prompt to the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program before the test was administered. The high stakes test determines grade promotion for fourth- and eighth-graders.

This letter brought about a good question: what happens if a teacher cheats?

"If we confirm a violation of test security, it becomes a personnel issue," Rosemary Woodard, the district's testing coordinator said.

Woodard interviewed the campus' teachers and staff. She found that they used sample questions from the state Web site which were similar to those found on test day.  

Woodard said there hasn't been a major violation in recent years, or at least as far back as she can recall. 

"The investigation yielded that teachers were doing exactly what they were suppose to do," said schools Superintendent Gerald Dawkins. "They used state-approved release test items"

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