Ex-student: Teacher gave me test answers

Transcription

1 NEW DETAILS APS CHEATING SCANDAL Ex-student: Teacher gave me test answers Teen, her mom are APS trial s first witnesses. BY BILL RANKIN [email protected] AND MOLLY BLOOM [email protected] Justina Collins testifies about her concern over her daughter s test scores. KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

2 Former Dobbs Elementary School teacher Dessa Curb talks with defense attorney Sanford Wallack during the trial Tuesday. Curb faces charges of racketeering and two counts of false statements and writings. KENT D. JOHNSON PHOTOS / [email protected] Renard McCloud, former Cascade Elementary teacher, said he taught concerned parent Justina Collins daughter in an early-intervention class and was concerned when the student exceeded expectations on a 2006 test.

3 TUESDAY S MOMENT APS TRIAL: DAY 2 Justina Collins knew her daughter struggled in school. So she was shocked when her daughter, an APS student, excelled on state reading and math tests in She sought answers from her school s principal. I just wanted to understand how she could struggle the entire year but do extraordinary on a test at the end of the year, she said. She recalled the principal s answer: Some kids just do well on tests when they don t do well throughout the course of the school year. QUOTE OF THE DAY Hindsight influences one s view of the situation Former Atlanta school board member Anne Harper on voting to hire former superintendent Beverly Hall NEXT UP Testimony from prosecution witnesses continues. CONTINUING COVERAGE In 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the first of what would be several stories highlighting suspect test scores in Atlanta Public Schools and other Georgia districts. In the years that followed, the newspaper continued to dig, and eventually special investigators appointed by the governor exposed widespread cheating in the 50,000-student APS district. The APS trial is the latest chapter in that coverage. It began on Aug. 11 with a jury-selection process that lasted for six grueling weeks. And Monday, opening arguments began in a trial that could take several months. Follow the trial with our up-to-the-minute reports each day from inside the courtroom at MyAJC.com or follow along on DEFENDANTS AND CHARGES The 12 former Atlanta Public Schools administrators and educators on trial

4 and the charges they are facing: School Reform Team executive director Sharon Davis Williams racketeering, false swearing and two counts of false statements and writings. School Reform Team executive director Tamara Cotman racketeering. School Reform Team executive director Michael Pitts racketeering and influencing witnesses. Dobbs Elementary principal Dana Evans racketeering and four counts of false statements and writings. Deerwood Academy assistant principal Tabeeka Jordan racketeering, theft by taking and false statements and writings. Dunbar Elementary teacher Pamela Cleveland racketeering and two counts of false statements and writings. Dunbar Elementary teacher Shani Robinson racketeering and false statements and writings. Dunbar Elementary teacher Diane Buckner-Webb racketeering and two counts of false statements and writings. Dobbs Elementary teacher Angela Williamson racketeering, two counts of false statements and writings and two counts of false swearing. Dobbs Elementary teacher Dessa Curb racketeering and two counts of false statements and writings. Usher Collier Heights Elementary testing coordinator Donald Bullock racketeering and three counts of false statements and writings. Benteen Elementary testing coordinator Theresia Copeland racketeering, theft by taking and two counts of false statements and writings.

5 A former Atlanta Public Schools student testified Tuesday in the APS testcheating trial that she was elated when she exceeded expectations on her thirdgrade standardized tests because she had struggled so much with reading and math. I was like, I guess I finally put my mind into it and did a great job, said the girl. But the girl soon acknowledged, a bit reluctantly, a potential reason for why she did so well. During the 2006 standardized test, a Cascade Elementary School teacher would give her a correct answer when she raised her hand, said the girl, now a 17-year-old high school student in Marietta. Fulton County prosecutors called on the teenager, whose name is being withheld because of a court order, and her mother as the first witnesses in the APS trial. Through their testimony, prosecutors sought to show how struggling students did not get the extra help they needed because test cheating falsely inflated their academic progress, and how their parents hit roadblocks with they tried to get answers about testing irregularities. The former APS student acknowledged being a bit nervous when she took the stand. But when prosecutor Clint Rucker asked her what she wants to be, she smiled broadly. I d like to be a fashion designer, she said. But the girl testified that she continues to lag far behind in reading. This also hinders her work in other subjects, such as science. Do you think you d be doing better if you could read better? Rucker asked. Yeah, the girl replied. The girl s mother, Justina Collins, said she was dumbfounded when she got her daughter s results on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) for thirdgraders. Even though Collins had been homeless and in an abusive relationship, she was a hands-on mom who was well aware her daughter performed poorly in reading and math. Collins, now a 37-year-old probation officer pursuing a master s degree in psychology, has become a reluctant spokeswoman for APS parents. She has said

6 she didn t want to get involved, but prosecutors issued a subpoena compelling her to testify to the grand jury, and then District Attorney Paul Howard asked her to appear at a press conference announcing the indictment of 35 former Atlanta Public Schools employees in connection with the test-cheating scandal last year. Twelve of those indicted are standing trial now. In 2006, Collins sought answers when her daughter performed so well on the CRCT. Unsatisfied with the Cascade principal s explanation, Collins said she took MARTA to the district s central office to meet with someone in charge. She said she initially met with four women and outlined her concerns. On the way out, Collins said, she crossed paths with former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall in the hallway. When asked what Hall said, Collins testified, She basically said nothing could be done at this time, but to contact the district if she had further questions. But what Collins did not say about her discussion with Hall was also notable. During opening statements Monday, lead prosecutor Fani Willis told jurors that Hall told Collins, Your baby, she just tests well. Collins made no mention of that Tuesday. The district did look into Collins concerns. According to a November 2006 district memo entered into evidence, Cascade s former principal, Alfonso Jessie, called Collins daughter into his office after Collins expressed concerns about the test scores. He gave the student a reading test, which she completed, the document said. The district found no evidence of testing violations at Cascade, according to the memo, although the girl had the lowest reading marks in her class that year. A former Cascade teacher, Renard McCloud, who taught the girl in an earlyintervention class, testified Tuesday he was extremely concerned when Collins daughter exceeded expectations on the 2006 CRCT. They had to be tampered with, he said of the tests. But under cross-examination, McCloud acknowledged he did not report that apparent irregularity at the time, which he was required to do.

7 In fourth grade, the girl failed the CRCT. Collins daughter continued to struggle in school through the years. Collins has since moved her daughter and a son to the Marietta City Schools, where her daughter is progressing. Her daughter, now 17, is in the 11th grade but reads at an eighth-grade level, she said.