The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "grades" ...
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Counting Kids Out
"Counting Kids Out" exposed years of systemic cheating in Columbus City Schools, Ohio's largest school district. The rolling investigation has uncovered widespread fraud that likely resulted in higher-than-deserved report-card grades; inflated graduation rates; and bonuses for school workers who did not actually deserve them.
Tags: Columbus City Schools; cheating; fraud; graduation retes
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Empty-desk epidemic
For years, Chicago officials published upbeat statistics that masked a crisis in the city's schools: Nearly 32,000 of the city's K-8 grade students — or roughly 1 in 8 —miss a month or more of class per year, while others simply vanish from school without a trace. This devastating pattern of absenteeism, which disproportionately affects African-Americans and children with disabilities, came to light only after Chicago Tribune reporters dug it out during a years-long FOIA battle to obtain internal district data.
Tags: K-12 education; schools; absenteesim; Chicago; statistics manipulation
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A Damaged District
For more than a year, Zahira Torres overcame obstacle after obstacle to document one of the worst school cheating scandals in the nation's history. Where other cheating scandals involved altering accountability tests, the El Paso Independent School District gamed the state and federal accountability systems by targeting Mexican immigrant students. In a number of cases, district officials refused to enroll students or pushed out students already enrolled -- denying countless students their constitutional right to an education. In other cases, they arbitrarily reclassified grade levels or altered transcripts, all in an attempt to keep students out of the testing pool. Torres' reporting sparked numerous results. The superintendent who masterminded the scheme went to federal prison. The state education agency removed the school board. And when Torres' reporting documented that the state was aware of details of the cheating in 2010 and cleared the district anyway, the new education commissioner ordered an independent investigation of how the agency missed the cheating.
Tags: schools; scandals; education; school board
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Congressional Speech Series
Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level, according to a new Sunlight Foundation analysis of the Congressional Record using Capitol Words. Of course, what some might interpret as a dumbing down of Congress, others will see as more effective communications.
Tags: congress; communication
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Testing The System
USA TODAY's "Testing the System" focused on mandated state standardized tests, and in particular, whether radical gains in scores in some schools or classrooms were real or the product of cheating.
Tags: Standardized tests; schools; classrooms; cheating; grades
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Sink or Swim: Mavericks High Schools claim to help trouble students, but questions persist about their quest for profits from taxpayer money
The investigation reveals that the for-profit charter school Mavericks in Education Florida drive for profit conflicts with the company's mission of helping at-risk kids graduate from high school. Maverick's graduation rates are abysmal, former employees allege its attendance records and grades are falsified, and the schcools receive "incomplete" grades from the Florida Department of Education. Using taxpayer funds, the company is promising thousands of kinds an education that it does not deliver.
Tags: high school; mavericks; falsified; grades; frank biden
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"Urban League Gets Mixed Grades On Crenshaw Area Overhaul"
This series attempts to provide a "midway progress report" for a major, $25 million effort by the Los Angeles Urban League to "address academic problems at Crenshaw High School," and several other "social ills" that bother the neighborhood that surrounds the campus. Reporters interviewed members of the community, school and local law enforcement in an effort to report on the progress of the program. They found the Urban League's Neighborhoods@Work program "met some goals and fell short of others."
Tags: Los Angeles Urban League; Crenshaw High; LAPD; L.A. Unified School District; L.A. City Attorney's Office; California Public Records Act; records request
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ICE quietly relaxes ban on using stun gun on jailed detainees
MPR "brought to light the troubling story of an immigrant detainee shot in the testicle with a Taser gun while in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a Minnesota jail. They further revealed ICE retroactively changed its ban on jails using stung guns against ICE detainees due to pressure from local law enforcement. ICE continued to send hundreds of detainees to jails rated "deficient" and quietly reversed the failing grades."
Tags: Immigration and Customs Enforcement; ICE; immigrants; detainees; stun gun; Taser; Minnesota Department of Corrections
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East of St. Louis School District 189 investigation
This investigation into East St. Louis School District 189 shows misuse of funds and highlights questionable decisions at administrative levels for both academics and athletics. About 7,500 students attend classes in the district that has received constantly failing grades when compared to educations achievement statewide. The district receives millions in federal "Title 1" money because more than 90 percent of its students live blow the poverty line. However, this investigation revealed questionable use of those taxpayer funds. In September, the story took a turn and focused on the champion East St. Louis Flyers football team that was eventually kicked out of the state playoffs despite having an undefeated recored. In these stories, questionable practices by district officials regarding strict residency rules were revealed.
Tags: Title 1; academics; athletics; school; students; low-income; taxpayer; East St. Louis Flyers; football; School District 189; corruption; finance; FOI
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"Grading the Teachers"
The LA Times studied schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District. Using gain-score analysis, data linking standardized test scores and various evaluation techniques, the Times identified the "most and least effective" teachers and schools in the district. Reporters examined schools ranked high by the API standard, only to find inconsistencies in student performance.
Tags: California Standards Test; API; Los Angeles Unified School District; LAUSD; RAND; California Public Records Act; United Teachers L.A.