N.Y. State Probes Math Test Scores

State authorities are investigating whether a school district tampered with as many as 5,100 students' scores on state mathematics tests in what could become one of the state's biggest test fraud cases, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Uniondale school district was told in a June 6 letter that the state expunged all the district's results on last year's high-school math Regents exams and third through eighth-grade math assessments, Newsday reported.

"Significant discrepancies" in last year's math scores suggest tampering, assistant state education commissioner David Abrams wrote in the letter, which Newsday obtained Friday.

Uniondale's math scores fell significantly after the district strengthened oversight of test staffers this year, while math scores in most Long Island school districts rose, according to Newsday.

No students have been implicated in the investigation, and it will not affect individual students' scores, according to the newspaper. The school district told parents in a letter Friday that summer tutoring would be available to students whose math abilities might not be as strong as their scores suggested.

Authorities believe one or more school staffers altered students' answer sheets to try to boost scores, Newsday reported. The state attorney general is investigating, and administrators from a regional education board are monitoring Uniondale's current round of Regents exams, according to the newspaper.

Uniondale school board president Ray Rhoden said the investigation was "like being punched in the gut."

"We've done fairly well in academics across the board," said Rhoden, 58, "and frankly, I don't think we needed anybody to manipulate results."

Test security is a growing concern statewide. The state comptroller's office reported last week that 41 of 235 schools inspected in January weren't meeting requirements for securing Regents tests before they were given.