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 "test scores" ...
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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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Omaha in Black and White
One out of every three high school freshman in Omaha fail to graduate in four years, and the dropout problem is even worse for black youths. Findings include: graduation rates slide sharply as attendance drops; middle school grades track closely with graduation rates; students with poor test scores in elementary school are significantly less likely to graduate; few students who enter high school with both poor attendance and poor grades in 8th grade are successful, only 20% graduate on time
Tags: education; dropout rates; graduation rates; at-risk youth; Omaha Public Schools; longitudinal data;
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A Passing Offense
"The WFAA-TV series, "A Passing Offense," revealed a systematic problem inside the Dallas public schools in which athletic excellence was prized over academic success. Despite a statewide "No Pass, No Play" rule that required athletes to achieve passing academic scores to continue to play sports, the rule was often flouted to win championships."
Tags: academics; sports; grade manipulation; athletes; high school; test scores; FOIA
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Subtraction by Addition: A watchdog report on MPS' failed construction program
The series focused on a failed $102 million neighborhood school building program to add classrooms, gyms, libraries, labs and entire schools for Milwaukee schoolchildren. The investigation found that tens of millions of dollars of classrooms added since 2001 sit empty or severely underused.
Tags: school district; construction; enrollment; classroom; academic; test score
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No Child Left Behind: A closer look
"'No Child Left Behind: A Closer Look' examines three little-known aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's signature education law." The three part series looks at race, failing schools, and the impact it has had on the "nation's best teachers."
Tags: No Child Left Behind Act; race; San Diego; teachers; schools; education; test scores; loopholes; school boards;
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Faking the Grade
This investigation, a follow up of a 2004 investigation of the same subject, found that test scores of more than 50,000 students across Texas show evidence of cheating. Cheating includes copying by students, as tests that are doctored by teachers and school administrators. Cheating is most common at underachieving schools, where the pressure to boost scores is the highest.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award; education; students; schools; cheating; tests; standardized tests; No Child Left Behind; regression analysis; Texas Education Agency; CAR; public records laws