U.S. Education Dept. Joins Probe of DC Test Scores

The Associated Press reports:

The U.S. Department of Education has joined an investigation of possible cheating on standardized tests, and District of Columbia leaders said Friday they welcome the scrutiny.

"I actually think that that is a huge step in ensuring that we have a thorough, serious investigation," said Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. "Generally our office of the inspector general doesn't do this kind of thing."

The city's inspector general began investigating after USA Today reported in March that more than 100 D.C. schools had unusually high rates of erasures on exams between 2008 to 2010. The Washington Post reported Friday that federal investigators have now joined in.

The news comes the same week a yearlong probe showed that 178 educators in the Atlanta school district were involved in a cheating scandal where they changed answers or helped students on standardized tests used to meet federal benchmarks. The Georgia investigation involved two former district attorneys with subpoena power, 2,100 interviews and up to 60 agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

In Washington, Mayor Vincent Gray said he would ask that more city investigators be devoted to the probe after a reporter told him Friday only one was assigned.

"We continue to pay close attention to the integrity of the testing process," said Gray, who oversees the city schools. "We don't want questions raised about gains ... we want the gains to be the result of children who have learned."