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Allegations of grade inflation prompt audit Thursday, Jul 17, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - State auditors will look into allegations teachers in a college studies program for high school students were pressured into giving students higher grades than they deserved. The state Department of Higher Education has asked the Division of Legislative Audit to conduct an audit of the Arkansas Early College High School Program offered by the Southeast Arkansas Education Service Cooperative in Monticello. Students at 40 high schools across the state participate in the program, which uses distance learning to let students get a head start on their college education by taking college courses while still in high school. Twenty-four colleges and universities in the state are partners in the program. In a June 12 e-mail to legislative auditor Roger Norman, state Higher Education Director Jim Purcell requested an audit of the program in response to complaints he said the department received in April. Purcell wrote the state Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education investigated the complaints and found that "credibility issues were corroborated through multiple sources." Current and former employees of the program told investigators that students in the early college program received higher grades than they deserved; teachers were pressured by management to change students' grades; and teachers were harassed and/or fired for refusing to lower standards or change grades. In the e-mail, Purcell quoted the comments of several current and former employees to investigators, including: -"If the grades weren't high enough we were to redo tests, or whatever it took to make sure those grades were high enough." -"Plenty of pressure to give good grades. If you did not do so, you would not be renewed." -"The grades I submitted ... were not high enough, so I was required to do grade changes on the students." -"This is nothing but a scam. I am very disheartened by what I saw ... I was asked to give students grades they did not deserve. ... All they wanted was numbers." Deputy Higher Education Director Steve Floyd said Wednesday he could not comment on the department's audit request. Auditors will make an on-site visit to the cooperative next week, legislative auditor Tim Thompson said Wednesday. Bruce Terry, who was director of the cooperative in April when the complaints were made about the early college program, was suspended with pay by a vote of the cooperative's board on June 20. Paul Keith, the board's attorney, said Wednesday he could not comment on personnel decisions of the board. Board president Keith Alexander did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday. Laura Creach, the former coordinator of the Arkansas Early College High School Program, resigned in April and filed a grievance against Terry alleging sexual harassment. The board hired a consulting firm, HR Factor of Fayetteville, to investigate Creach's allegation. In a report dated June 18, the firm concluded that "the facts do not support a sexual harassment claim." Creach told the Arkansas News Bureau the investigation was "a joke." She said a hearing on her grievance is scheduled for July 28, and that if she does not prevail she expects to file a lawsuit. Creach also said she once witnessed Terry directing a teacher to change the grades of students who had been caught cheating. The teacher had given the students grades of zero, she said. "He (Terry) felt like that if students had low grades, they would be afraid to sign up for classes next year and it would hurt the overall program," Creach said. Terry's attorney, Charles Sidney Gibson, said Terry denies Creach's allegations of harassment. "He denies those wholeheartedly," Gibson said. "Didn't happen." Gibson said he was not aware that Creach had claimed Terry pressured teachers to inflate students' grades. An invitation to Terry to respond was extended through his attorney, but Terry did not immediately respond Wednesday. Gibson said Terry has 30 days from the date of his suspension to request a hearing, but as of Wednesday he had not done so. |
