District of Columbia Public Schools 
Press release on USA Today article on cheating on test scores in DC Public Schools
March 28, 2011

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District of Columbia Public Schools

District of Columbia Public Schools

Today, USA Today ran a story documenting their investigation of alleged testing impropriety in DC public schools.

DCPS adheres to stringent training and test administration guidelines, and begins the thoughtful process of ensuring test security long before the first tests are given.  Employees on every level of DCPS assist, from school-based to central office staff. When we are informed of possible test improprieties, we work closely with OSSE, and third party partners when necessary, to carefully and promptly investigate and take appropriate next steps. 

In 2009, DCPS acted swiftly to bring in Caveon Test Security, an outside firm with vast expertise in the area of test security, after OSSE flagged a handful of schools for follow up investigations based on erasure data.  For the majority of schools, the firm found no evidence of wrong-doing.  For the rare cases in which the firm recommended a consequence or next step for individual staff or schools, we followed the firm's guidance diligently.  We know that the vast majority of school staff and students approach the test with the highest integrity.  However, for those rare incidences when staff and students fall short of this standard, we do not hesitate to act quickly to maintain or uphold the integrity of DCPS as a whole.

Out of fairness to our students and teachers, DCPS not comment on schools where no violation was substantiated after a full investigation. We can share though that we are committed to ensuring that our test taking procedures adhere to the highest standards of testing.

To support our commitment to integrity and accountability, we established a number of additional testing precautions this year to help ensure that each of our testing sites adheres to our administration protocols:

•  We brought in Caveon, LLC, an independent firm with leading market expertise in test security, to conduct independent reviews of school testing protocols and staff training.
• We incorporated stricter protocols for receiving, storing and returning test materials into the school test plans per an independent review conducted by Caveon, LLC, after the 2010 CAS administration.
• We provided every school with an independent observer from Central Office trained in test security protocols for the duration of the DC CAS testing window as well as additional monitoring for schools that have been identified as having prior test security issues.
• We conducted unscheduled visits to testing schools to observe maintenance of secure test material storage and handling.
• We conducted an independent review of every school test plan.

DCPS’ focus is to continue to be transparent, accountable and proactive in all aspects of our work.  Certainly continued growth around testing – not just achievement but administration – is a priority.

OSSE administers the State Test Security Guidelines to which DCPS adheres.  Those guidelines can be found at http://osse.dc.gov/seo/lib/seo/2011_DC_CAS_Security_Guidelines.pdf.

Safiya Jafari Simmons
Assistant Press Secretary
District of Columbia Public Schools
Office of the Chancellor
1200 First St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
O 202.724.6689
M 202.480.0857
F 202.442.5018 (Department e-Fax)
W dcps.dc.gov