Testing, testing

On the same day the New York Times is carrying a front page story about standardized test tampering around the country, the Providence Journal reports that one of the two newly-hired "turnaround" assistant principals in Central Falls, RI misrepresented the gain in test scores at his former school:

Sam’s resumé claimed, incorrectly, that under his leadership at the MET over the past four years, math scores had improved by 79 percent.

But the combined test scores for the three MET campuses are roughly the same as low-performing Central Falls High, with just 55 percent proficient in reading in 2009 — the same as Central Falls — and only 4 percent proficient in math, even lower than Central Falls’ 7-percent proficiency. Math test scores did not improve, although reading scores did jump 14 points over the past three years.

As the Answer Sheet points out, this is a curious case of misreporting, particularly as he is being hired for a position in which test scores clearly are what the school--and his position--rises and falls on.