Audit Suggests Grade Inflation, Lawmakers Told
Last updated Friday, October 10, 2008 6:16 PM CDT in News
By Rob Moritz
ARKANSAS NEWS BUREAU
LITTLE ROCK -- A state audit released Friday suggested grade inflation occurred in a Southeast Arkansas college studies program for high school students, and lawmakers asked the state Department of Education to look into whether any teachers involved should have their licenses revoked.
"The sad thing about this is the victims are the children," said Sen. Terry Smith, D-Hot Springs, while discussing the audit during a meeting of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee.
Norman Hill, retired Monticello School District superintendent who does consulting work for the Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative, told the committee he agreed with the audit's findings and said steps are being taken to correct the problems.
"We are deeply embarrassed with what we've heard," Hill said.
After the meeting, state Department of Higher Education Director Jim Purcell said he may recommend the Arkansas Early College High School program separate its Advanced Placement and concurrent college courses to prevent any future grade inflation problems. The problem, he said, was that some of the faculty emphasized the AP courses over the college credit in the classes.
"The combining of AP and concurrent together is a two-year pilot program and we're supposed to review it in May," he said.
Purcell requested the investigation in April after he received complaints and concluded a preliminary investigation by his department found "credible issues were corroborated through multiple sources."
The allegations included current and former employees admitting some students in the early college program in Monticello had received higher grades than they deserved. Other allegations included teachers being pressured by management to change students' grades and that teachers were harassed and/or fired for refusing to lower standards or change grades.
The cooperative serves 13 school districts in seven Southeast Arkansas counties.
The audit found inconsistencies between course grades in the same class, including where students had grades or assignments that were not included in the calculation of the overall grade, while other students in the same class had those grades included.
In one case, auditors found that students from one high school were awarded 25 participation points while students at other high schools in the same class were not.
"These grade changes and inconsistent grading methods without explanation and support raise questions about the legitimacy of the students' grade," the audit said.
The audit also found that current and former instructors interviewed said they were pressured to ensure students had good grades through retesting and reducing the difficulty of coursework, but no documentation could be found support the allegation.
Also, the Arkansas Early College High School program did not provide instructor credentials in a timely manner, resulting in one instructor being disapproved after the semester was completed. Despite the disapproval of the teacher, the university still granted credit to the students.
Since the state audit began, the number of colleges participating in the program has dropped from 15 to three.
About 1,800 high school students from across the state are enrolled in the program, which allows all school district to offer a minimum of one AP course in each of the four core areas, math, science, English and social studies.
Tim Thompson, a state auditor, told the committee the pressure to inflate grades was never direct, but teachers were told their jobs might be in jeopardy if not enough students participate in the program.
"It's our responsibility to make sure something ugly like this doesn't happen again," said Saunders, who recommended a motion to ask the state Department of Education to review the audit and look into the allegations to determine if any of the teachers involved could have their teaching licenses revoked.
Bruce Terry, the cooperative's director, recently resigned after the cooperative's board suspended him.
Laura Creach, the former director of the early college program, resigned in April. She said Terry told teachers that no students should receive less than a B. She also has filed a grievance against Terry alleging sexual harassment.
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