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 "scores" ...
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Concealing County Corruption: Anatomy of a Cover-Up
Wayne Dolcefino saves the best for last. In his final investigation for KTRK-TV, he and the 13 Undercover Unit demonstrated relentless persistence as they attempted to shake up a county government with an abysmal record of policing itself. This submission begins with four reports detailing shocking evidence of corruption inside the downtown precinct of Constable Jack Abercia. 13 Undercover spent several months doing painstaking surveillance -- catching the Constable’s deputies running his personal errands, working extra jobs on the clock and stockpiling never driven county patrol cars while lawmen were being laid off. 13 Undercover then managed to get a hidden camera inside the chief deputy’s office as he and two deputies talked openly about corruption inside the precinct. The language is often foul mouthed and always revealing. The FBI nabbed Aberica and two top commanders in a bribery sting weeks later. The veteran former constable is now awaiting trial. Eventually, 13 Undercover turned our cameras on county leaders to say “enough is enough.” Not only was action not forthcoming, it quickly became clear that many in positions of power wanted this all to go away without getting their hands dirty, without ending decades of a patronage system that made deputies feel required to give money to their boss’s campaigns and charities to keep their jobs. That was not an option. This investigation demanded accountability and we held leaders to the promises they made to the public. In late summer, 13 Undercover scored a major public records victory that revealed what one commentator dubbed "a cover-up of Nixonian proportions." The series culminated with the long awaited, and previously unimaginable, indictment of one of the county’s most popular elected officials – precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino. New county directives now prohibit constables from soliciting money from their deputies and legislation is expected to filed in Austin to protect county employees from further shakedowns.
Tags: Corruption; county government; officials
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Tampa Bay Times: Stand Your Ground
In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting controversy, the Tampa Bay Times systematically reviewed scores of "stand your ground" cases and created the first database of its kind to bring the facts of all these cases together as a single source.
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State Integrity Investigation
The data-driven analysis of transparency and accountability in all 50 states resulted in a ranking if the 50 states, accompanied by both an overall letter gade and numerical score for each state. It measured the strength of laws and practices that are supposed to encourage openness and deter corruption.
Tags: integrity; ethics reform; state government; state ethics laws
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Shades of Mercy: Presidential Pardons
Reporters obtained exclusive access to thousands of internal documents and conducted scores of interviews with pardon applicants, Justice Department, and top legal advisers to every president since Ronald Reagan. What the documents showed were repeated instances in which white applicants with serious criminal records received pardons, while minority applicants who committed lesser crimes were rejected.
Tags: presidential pardons; justice department; pardon; race; discrimination
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Cheating Our Children
After using a sophisticated data analysis to expose anomalous gains on standardized tests in Atlanta Public Schools -- anomolies that were shown in 2011 to signal chearing at 44 schools -- the Atlanta Journal-Constitution set out in late 2011 to apply its analysis to school test scores nationwide.
Tags: cheating; standardized tests; schools; teachers
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Scandals In Atlanta Public Schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed of the 2008 standardized test scores in the Atlanta Public School System and laid the foundation for coverage of what is considered the largest case of academic fraud in the nation's history.
Tags: No Child Left Behind; Atlanta Public Schools; Cheating; Test Fraud; Academic Fraud
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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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Testing the System
The story focused on mandated state standardized tests and whether radical gains in scores in some schools or classrooms were real or the product of cheating.
Tags: standardized tests; No Child Left Behind; tests; MAP tests; classroom; teachers; cheating
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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.
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Filling the void, Profiting from Colorado's Real Estate Avalanche
The state of Colorado has reached the historic highs of foreclosure numbers. With these numbers so high, fraud and confusion was created when the “real estate bubble finally burst”. As a result of the stories, US Marshalls arrested the subject of the investigation and the company was forced to shut down. Further, the stories prevented a number of people from becoming victims.
Tags: US Department of Justice; credit score; housing; market; landlord; Greg Castle; homeowner; Craigs list