I hope Lakewood is not found guilty of this. I know it is common practice to manipulate statistics and data to achieve an end result but this will appear as cheating and what an awful example to set for our students. I hope the punishment, if found guilty, will be comparable to what a student might get if found doing the same thing. It is only fair.

I guess I should clarify what I mean. I used to be an analyst some years ago and I only meant that there are many ways to crunch numbers to achieve an end result. I do not necessarily agree or disagree with the means to achieve those results I only meant that I know it is done in many areas of business today, unfortunately. And, like you said, it can be deceptive and I certainly hope they can get to the bottom of this scandal and that the punishment is comparable to what a student would be given if found cheating, if, in fact, these people were found to be cheating to get a better score.

I guess this is what happens when all focus is only on test scores...

I would agree with Renee. As someone who has worked in education in several districts across three different states, you really don't want to know all the sneaky ways school districts massage this data. It might not be overt tampering with the results of a state test; but in terms of practices, you'd be surprised what goes on in districts who are looking for a bump in their numbers. This is a wholly imperfect measuring system, full of backdoor maneuvering and tests that are inherently flawed. The means and methods by which we judge school districts wouldn't get approved as a collegiate research thesis, let alone a statistically-relevant method of comparison.

Is it possible this could be happening in the Stow Munroe-Falls School District ?
Is this why the old principle was asked to retire early from the High School ?
Could people within our district be that sick to falsify numbers just so they look good meanwhile the children's education is what looses, all because these selfish bastards are always thinking about themselves and only themselves.? IS This School District is more Corrupt now than ever ? Is it time to re-test and find out the real scores ? Athlete's ?

And we are surprised - why?? Years ago when these test first started in our district it was let out that these tests over the years will help to dictate the funding, etc. the districts get. AND, help to justify teachers/staff raises. Why do you think "some" give the students the answer to the test questions and then jump all over them if the test scores come back less than expected.

The Culture of Corruption

Is Brecksville guilty?

I judge schools on how many physicians, engineers, successful businesspeople, etc. they have as alumni, not on whether the worst 10% of students miss a couple of extra items on a multiple choice test.

Test the teachers for drugs I finally agree with donald

The measurement system itself here is the scandal that Ohio residents have been duped into believing in for over a decade. It's a lazy and inaccurate system that judges schools/districts on things that are beyond their control, which is ridiculous. You give me the demographic profile of a school (including percentages of race, poverty level, special education, andEnglish language learners) and I bet you that I can guess its rating or letter grade around 95% of the time without knowing much else about the school, including its level of funding. Until we have a system that is more accurate in determining just how well a school or district is actually doing in achieving its mission, I won't get worked up over any "scandals" because it's just pointless banter about a worthless system.

The problem is, as Churchill might say,
It's the worst system ever devised; except for everything that came before it.

James Churchill is dead....this is 2012. Lets speak of the facts THE BBHSD was rated B- by the Ohio Board of Education...despite the protests of our Super Mr. Prebbles. It seems all of the money we have poured into our teachers over the years was and is a very bad investment with diminishing returns. The union has killed our shool district... had we had teachers that were paid on results/merit we wouldn't be in the spot we are in. Lets take a look at what we have A teachers union that wants more money for an average result. There are smart kids in every district we are nothing special...time to face reality hate to burst your bubble

I think it is great that they are looking into this. So many of us look to those results as being real/factual information on our schools.

Actually, the words "tampering," "cheating" or "scandal" are all loaded conclusions for a situation in which there may be no "tampering," "cheating" or "scandal" at all. The more I've read about this complex situation, the more it seems like confused directives came out of the state department of education and it's possible that no one in the school system did anything wrong. Instead, certain media, including this article, have basically acted as judge and jury and condemned before the evidence has even been collected. The Columbus Dispatch has been in the forefront, but it has an agenda: it has long aggressively attacked public education on many fronts, some valid, most not. This article sloppily repeats the framing of the situation being investigated as a "scandal" featuring "manipulation." At this time we don't know that to be true.

I have been asked if I am the Diana quoted above, Just FYI it is not me. Thanks
Diana Sabitsch Revere Schools

Don't you think it's absurd that a school is going to be graded on students who don't show up? These chronically absent students should not be counted in any test results. If they are not there, how can the schools educate them? I don't condone what may have been done in the Columbus school district (nor do I know the whole story) but I don't see how these students test results should be on any report card. Neither should the students who have moved to the school within 2 months of any state test. How can that school be judged on how that student does? What about the student who has been at three schools in less than half a year? It happens, as the parent gets evicted from one residence to another or has to constantly move for whatever reason. How many elementary kids are going to do great when they come from families where in the last year a family member has been killed or jailed, where they have been neglected or abused? My wife used to teach in an elementary school where these were not uncommon stories from the kids. Where a nine year old was in charge of getting her two younger siblings up and to the school, stopping at the convenient store on the way to school to get them something to eat. Getting them to school by 11 AM. These poor kids have so much stacked against them that it's amazing if they can pay attention to a teacher for anytime, let alone read,

UH I could not agree with you more.... Our parents make this district with out a doubt.
Our teachers thrown in East Cleveland would do not better than the teachers that are there now. We should give pay raises to our teachers base on their ability to teach. The BOE should lift the max pay a teacher can top out at substanially. Remove step, base, and longevity raises and go directly to merit. Further we should ask our teachers to have a Masters Degree in the subject they teach and pay them for their degree. Wouldn't it be great if our teachers had a "Masters in English" Masters in Math" etc....How can you have a teacher that has a undergrad degree in English and a "Masters in Teaching" teach advanced math in our district.... Perhaps this is the reason why our district has an average rating of B- and the number parents sending their kids to private school is growing..
Your thoughts please