8th Educator Charged In Philadelphia Test Cheating Probe
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A third former Philadelphia school principal now faces criminal charges in connection with the state probe into cheating on standardized tests.
The state Attorney General says it was no coincidence that PSSA scores at Locke Elementary School in West Philadelphia spiked while 43-year-old Lolamarie Davis-O'Rourke was principal in 2010 and 2011.
Davis-O'Rourke is now the third city principal arrested for allegedly changing answers on the high-stakes standardized test.
The Attorney General says a grand jury found that Davis-O'Rourke, while proctoring the exams, directed students to change wrong answers to right ones, and rewrite essay answers. The panel also found she changed the locks to a storage room near her office where the completed test booklets were stored.
Seven Philadelphia educators were arrested in the ongoing probe in 2014. They're currently awaiting trial.
The school district tightened testing protocols in 2012, and scores dropped sharply after that.
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