Recently Hoosiers were informed of the closing of Flanner House Elementary Charter School amid allegations of cheating on ISTEP tests.
The Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, last year, began an investigation of Flanner House Elementary after the school showed extraordinarily high gains in 2013 and 2014 ISTEP testing results. The mayor’s office notified the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) of its preliminary investigation results and requested further state investigations.
On Aug. 18, IDOE released the findings of its investigation. Among other things, the report found: the school’s 2013 ISTEP+ tests showed an unusually high number of changes from wrong to right answers; adult handwriting was repeatedly found in student answers of the 2013 test; students were given test questions before administration of the 2014 ISTEP test; and teachers revised and edited student responses to real ISTEP questions prior to administering the 2014 test.
In addition, Flanner House Elementary failed to follow several testing security procedures. In particular, it was found that 2013 Testing Integrity Agreements were forged.
At Recorder press time, Flanner House Elementary Charter School Board of Directors surrendered the school’s charter and will close the school Sept. 11. About 200 students must find alternatives.
Those tied to this scandal and others have multiple and varying opinions about the issue. The Indianapolis Recorder reached out to many and got their candid thoughts. Here are some of their responses.
The board chair
Patricia Roe is the chair of the board of Flanner House Elementary Charter School. Here are her thoughts:
- March 2014, there was an ISTEP testing breach. The principal of Flanner House Elementary Charter School, Latika Warthaw, reached out to Roe about the issue.
- The individual who served as the test administrator and who caused the breach was dismissed. There was no explanation given to Roe as to why the individual did what they did.
- The Indiana Department of Education and Mayor Greg Ballard’s Office of Education Innovation were notified. The school’s charter is held through Ballard’s office.
- Warthaw/Roe also provided Ballard’s office details of the internal investigation, which included immediately changing processes and procedures within the school in order to make sure the situation didn’t occur again.
- The March 2014 scores were sent to McGraw Hill, the test’s administrators. The mayor’s office and IDOE waited throughout the spring and summer for the results.
- During the Aug. 11 meeting, Flanner House school board members were notified about discussing the ISTEP test results. Brandon Brown, director of charter schools for the city, and Gantzer, attended the meeting and shared with Roe that they’d be contacting her within the next two to three weeks to review results and make recommendations accordingly.
- Warthaw and Jackie Gantzer, governance and operations analyst for the city’s charter school office also reviewed 2013-2014 grades 3-6 results. It was determined that the sixth grade was the purest grade because they hadn’t had any interaction with the testing coordinator. In short, sixth grade’s results were consistent with the previous year’s results. Grades 3-5 test scores decreased.
- The breach caused Ballard’s Office of Education Innovation to review prior year’s testing results. During the academic year of 2011-2012, the school was given a state standard grade of A. During 2012-2013, the school was given a D and put on a performance plan.
- Scores for 2013-2014 were invalidated by IDOE due to the breach. Scores for the 2012-2013 year were invalidated as well due to the suspicious A grade in addition to alleged cheating.
- Roe said the scores really show no improvement because the school was already on an improvement plan in 2011-2012, the year they received the A. Also, numbers on reports were incorrect but later corrected by IDOE.
- To date, there has been no evidence, reports or documents that have been placed before Roe, principal Warthaw or the teachers who were alleged to have committed the acts regarding cheating other than reports given to various entities by Flanner House.
- On Aug. 18, the IDOE presents the results of the investigation into the 2013 and 2014 ISTEP tests to the mayor’s office and Flanner House. Roe said it was told to her and was in writing the board would have until Aug. 22 to come up with a plan and to make a decision. In an email the date had been changed from Aug. 22 to Aug. 20.
- On Aug. 20 a special meeting was held. The mayor’s office attended and presented two documents and depending on which way the board voted “that’s the way the situation will go,” said Roe. She added that they also went so far as to say “the decision has already been made.” Roe said the majority of their decision was based on egregious acts based on the cheating.
- The IDOE recommended revision of Flanner House’s testing procedures and removed their four-star validation.
- On Aug. 20, Flanner House Elementary Charter School Board voted 5 to 1 in favor of closing the school effective Sept. 11. Roe said board members felt pressure and felt “backed against the wall” to vote a certain way.
- Roe said she had no indication the mayor’s office would be closing the school.
- Roe doesn’t believe due process has been given to the school or exercised with the board. “If we’re going to make these allegations against the staff, they should have the opportunity to see and present their position on it. If DOE had handwriting analysis and erasure analysis, then why should that analysis not extend to the teachers who are allegedly at fault here? This has been one sided.”
- Students may now be at a disadvantage at other schools because Flanner House is a special school that works with kids in ways other schools may not provide.
The city charter school representative
Brandon Brown, director of charter schools for the Office of Education Innovation, City of Indianapolis gives his thoughts.
- The mayor’s office initiated an investigation in Oct. 2013 and immediately contacted the board of directors, school principal and submitted information to the IDOE last fall.
- The Mayor’s office received word that there were more testing violations for the 2014 ISTEP, so they conducted another investigation and also forwarded that information to IDOE.
- They were made aware of IDOE’s decision Aug. 18.
- The board voted last week to close the school effective Sept. 11.
- Mayor Ballard supported that decision, however his office had made no final decision at the time of the board’s vote.
- The reason Ballard supports the decision: What was found through the investigation conducted by the Indiana Department of Education was widespread, systemic cheating on the ISTEP over multiple years. To the extent that all of the scores from 2013 and 2014 have now been invalidated.
- The extent of the breach, in terms of academic integrity was so large that major changes had to happen. The board made the decision that closing the school was in the best interest of students.
- The office organized an enrollment fair to help Flanner House Elementary students find other alternatives quickly.
Indiana Department of Education
- In terms of test security violations during the Spring 2013 ISTEP test administration, the IDOE identified specific areas of concern with Flanner House’s Spring 2013 ISTEP test administration.
- Nearly half of the Flanner House teacher groups were flagged in an erasure analysis study as having students with an unusually high number of changes from wrong to right answers on the multiple choice portion of the spring 2013 ISTEP assessment.
- The number of students per teacher group varied from 1 to 16.
- The number of students with wrong-to-right answer changes included all or nearly all of the students in each teacher group.
- The number of wrong-to-right answer changes ranged from a minimum of 27 to a maximum of 100 per teacher group.
- Upon examination of actual student books, several concerns were identified across all grade levels and content areas including: variations in handwriting within individual students’ responses on the Applied Skills items; corrections made by an adult throughout open-ended responses; incorrect responses erased and changed to correct responses; and circles bubbled in perfectly with no variation typical of student responses.
- Flanner House staff members were unable to articulate the specific reasons and instructional practices that led to a dramatic increase in scores.
- Although Flanner House received a Four-Star School Award based on Spring 2013 ISTEP performance, due to the invalidation of Spring 2013 ISTEP assessment scores at Flanner House, the IDOE is revoking Flanner House’s 2012-2013 Four-Star School Award.
For the complete summary of IDOE’s analysis, visit indianapolisrecorder.com.
Flanner House Elementary parents
- “I feel bad about it and disappointed because my oldest son who is in 8th grade now has been there since 1st grade. When he first came to the school he was behind and a particular teacher brought him up to speed. My youngest son who goes there now has been there since pre-k and he’s a straight A student.” – Krista Noble
- “We have to find different schooling but it’s hard when you want to send them down to Holy Angels and they haven’t been in the public school system and you might not get funded. It’s going to hurt the community. Not only is the school closing but I also hear the library is going. They’re making Martin Luther King look different now so is that all a part of the plan?” – Anonymous parent
What’s next?
- Enrollment fairs have been held to help students at Flanner House Elementary Charter School. There, students and their families received information about more than 25 public, private and charter schools. Many have already enrolled in the new schools.
- The prosecutor’s office has allegedly become involved in this cheating incident.
