Oh, my. A second East St. Louis school is under investigation for fishy behavior, and it appears a few folks have been busily obtaining test materials in an unauthorized fashion:
Dick Barrett, the inspector general for District 189's state financial oversight panel, is probing purchase orders linked to Terrence Curry, the former principal of Younge Middle School.
In September 2002, the school district placed an order for an answer key and test question books to the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills from Riverside Publishing of Itasca, Ill., according to documents obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat.
The purchasing order was placed under Curry's name. But the person who actually ordered the materials was Vivian Cockrell, who at the time was Younge's assistant principal.
Cockrell ordered the materials as part of the middle school's Student Improvement Program, which was aimed at boosting student test scores.
Curry's and Cockrells' involvement in the ordering of the tests and answer keys, however, raised an automatic red flag because they are not authorized to order such materials.
Only Janice Jennings, head of District 189's testing and research department, is allowed to do so. Restricting access to testing materials is done so, in part, to limit the possibility of cheating.
Curry is the second District 189 employee who has come under scrutiny for allegedly ordering testing materials without authorization.
Three weeks ago Barrett began probing evidence that links the chairman of the English Department at East Side High School to unauthorized purchases of hundreds of blank answer sheets to the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.
Peggy LeCompte, or someone using her name, twice in 2002 ordered hundreds of copies of the Iowa Tests -- at a cost of $1,611.
LeCompte also is president of the East St. Louis teachers union.
Previous reports on this scandal here, here, and here.
Posted by kswygert at December 29, 2003 09:30 AM