Teacher suspended after some Gateway test scores thrown out
Students will be given another chance to take the Biology I exam, which is needed to graduate, since they are not accused of cheating.
Veteran science teacher Lonnie Whitlow was suspended by school district officials without pay while they determine how much he “coached” students during the Biology I Gateway exam. The officials will receive legal counsel before deciding whether to take any further action against Whitlow.
“I’ve known him for 20 years as a teacher, and I’ve had no reason to suspect he was anything but an outstanding teacher,” said Ronnie Meador, director of the 9,500-student Robertson County schools.
Meador said he believes Whitlow just wanted to help the students but crossed the line.
“I don’t think it had the intention of cheating,” he said.
Meador would not reveal specifics of what Whitlow is accused of doing wrong because he said the investigation is continuing. Whitlow did not return calls seeking comment.
Allegations of cheating on the exam surfaced last week, and a team of investigators spent last Thursday and Friday interviewing students and staff at the 1,000-student high school located about 30 miles north of Nashville. The report was turned in to the state Department of Education on Wednesday and concluded that “there has been a breach of test security.”
“We, at the state level, have accepted their recommendation,” Education Department spokeswoman Kim Karesh said. “It’s as if those students never took the test at all.”
Karesh said allegations of problems happen about five times a year and that whenever there’s a breach of test security, the school system handles the investigation and reports to the state.
“We send out guidelines and requirements for what roles and responsibilities are for administrators, teachers and anyone who administers the test,” she said. “After the fact, our job is to ensure the accuracy of our test results and our actions can be to nullify, or throw out, the test results of specific students.”
Disciplinary action for a teacher or students must come from the local school system, Karesh said.
Karesh didn’t have any additional information about how the breach came to light because the investigation happened on the local level.
Starting this year, Gateway test scores help determine which students are eligible to graduate, how well a teacher is rated and whether a school makes enough progress from one year to the next.
Students must pass Gateway exams in Biology I, Algebra I and English II to graduate.
Three seniors who were among the 56 students affected will be able to graduate with their classmates on Saturday. The other students in question can retake the exam in July or December.
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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com