THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170368
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
The school administration is looking into allegations that several teachers at I.C. Norcom High shared with 11th-graders questions from a standardized test before the students were scheduled to take the test last month.
Teachers were directed by someone ``in a position of authority'' to review the test questions with juniors, Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said Tuesday.
Trumble said he would take any appropriate disciplinary action after the investigation is completed.
He also said he would begin to look for ``effective ways'' to remind staffers in the district that it's unethical to purposely try to give students an unfair advantage on a test. The district, for example, could hold workshops on the subject or address it at meetings, he said.
The incident has embarrassed Norcom supporters and angered School Board members. The incident also marks the third time the district has investigated what's known as a standardized ``testing irregularity,'' according to the state Education Department.
In an effort to clean up the situation, Norcom's juniors took the two remaining sections from an entirely different form of the test last week. The two, English-related sections - reading comprehension and written expression - are the only ones believed to have been compromised, the administration said.
Buying a different form of the test from the contractor for nearly 280 juniors cost the district about $1,800. The form purchased was not the one given to other Virginia students.
In the latest incident, the central administration said a Norcom teacher obtained from an ``outside source'' the standardized exam for 11th-graders - or parts of it - and then allegedly circulated the information among other teachers.
Officials declined to spell out exactly what happened next or name any of those allegedly involved, citing confidentiality laws.
But Trumble said another person, ``someone in a position of authority . . . someone teachers would look to for leadership,'' later directed the teachers to review some of the questions with 11th-grade students preparing to take the annual, statewide test - known as the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency.
Trumble would only say that the person who gave the instructions was not an ``administrator.''
It is unclear whether the person who gave the order, the teachers who followed it or the person who brought the material to school in the first place knew the questions would appear on the test.
But at least one teacher wasn't comfortable with what was happening. The teacher reported concerns to a Norcom administrator, who informed the central office.
In an explanatory memo to the state Education Department in Richmond, the administration said four teachers involved indicated they did not know they had been given questions from the test.
The written notification of the situation, which the state requires in cases like this, also suggests that the teacher who originally brought the material to school thought it was a ``practice test.''
The whistleblower, a teacher, ``did the right thing,'' Trumble said.
``This is a most regrettable matter,'' he said. ``Obviously there was a breach in professionalism.''
The central administration informed state education officials of the breach on Monday, March 18 - the week of districtwide standardized testing.
Viola Morgan, an assistant superintendent who oversees instructional and curriculum-related matters, said Tuesday that she would soon complete the district's investigation and report the findings to Trumble.
She did not say when the investigation would be completed. The state is awaiting a report from Trumble before taking action, if any is warranted, a state Education Department representative said.
Norcom Principal DeWayne Jeter declined to discuss the allegations. But he said: ``We will do what we've always done. We will continue to follow rules and regulations to maintain integrity and do the right thing.''
Others expressed outrage and shock.
``If the allegations are true, the School Board will ask the superintendent to take strong disciplinary action against those involved,'' said board Chairman J. Thomas Benn III.
``You go ahead one mile, through a great deal of effort, and one action like this puts you back six miles. It throws a pall on everything we do.''
``It's like a shock to me,'' said 17-year-old Norcom junior Keyanna Harrison. ``Why would teachers do that? It's a test for us to show what we know.''
A Norcom parent hoped for the best.
``I do not believe it was done intentionally, if it was actually done,'' said Karen Earls. ``Perhaps they were just trying to prepare them.''
Preparing students for standardized tests by reviewing the types of questions that appear on them is a common practice in schools across the country. The idea is to help students get used to the format.
School districts are supposed to secure exam booklets, which contain the actual questions, until it's time to administer the exam.
In Portsmouth, all of the booklets are supposed to be turned in to the research department after testing.
The same questions have appeared on the TAP each year since Virginia first administered it to 11th-graders in 1988.
This spring's administration of the TAP may have been the last time Virginia uses it to evaluate high school students, however. Starting next spring, the state plans to use another test, one based on recently approved academic standards for schools across the commonwealth.
Portsmouth, with years of low scores, has long been test-conscious. School-improvement teams come up with annual plans to improve academic performance, as well as test scores themselves.
Schools deemed ``the most improved'' typically are awarded $5,000 for school initiatives. Test scores factor heavily into the equation.
Gail B. Cunningham, executive director of the Portsmouth Education Association, says the pressure to improve test scores has increased.
``I think we just have to continue to articulate to folks that while student performance is important, it's not so important that we are going to compromise our integrity,'' she said.
``Everybody shares responsibility when test scores are so important that people feel - whether they're students or the staff - that you have to cheat to get by.''
State records show that Portsmouth also reported a ``testing irregularity'' in 1992, when there were concerns about fourth-graders who may have been ``exposed'' to some of the vocabulary words on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills; and in 1994, when concerns were raised about the administration of the social studies section of the ITBS at James Hurst Elementary.
A four-year slide in test scores for Portsmouth 11th-graders taking the TAP began to reverse itself last year, when student performance improved enough to push the district's composite score just over the 50th percentile for the first time in years.
A student who performs in the 50th percentile on such a test did better than half of the original students taking the test, and worse than the other half.
Norcom's composite score in 1995 was at the 46th percentile - a gain of 3 percentage points over the previous year.
That was still a dismal turnout, especially given the school's math, science and technology magnet program and its reputation for academic excellence in past decades. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Richard D. Trumble
KEYWORDS: STANDARDIZED TEST CHEATING PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS by CNB