Twenty nine DeKalb school employees have been referred to a testing standards commission after an internal investigation uncovered irregularities on standardized testing in numerous schools, acccording to DeKalb County school officials.
The investigation turned up irregularities at nine schools on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Twenty four of the system employees – which includes principals, assistant principals and teachers – have been reassigned to jobs outside of the school, pending review of their teaching certificates from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, according to a DeKalb schools press release.
An employee without a teaching credential will also be removed from current duties.
The investigation surrounded the administration of the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, which is required to be taken by primary-school students.
The internal investigation was initiated to address the results of an analysis conducted by the state of erasures on test sheets. The analysis showed that an unusually high number of wrong answers were changed to a correct answer.
“We have made all of our decisions in responding to these irregularities based on what’s best for the students,” said Tom Bowen, board chairman.
The school system’s investigation is ongoing. No information has been released about which schools in the county were affected by testing problems.
For students who were affected, individual learning support plans are being put in place to assist them with testing.