Superintendent of Schools Releases Report to NYSED
District-wide Investigation into the Schools Administration of the New York State English Language Arts Exams, January 2006

“I am delighted to report that the school district as a whole has been vindicated,” stated Bernard P. Pierorazio, Superintendent of Schools, “based on the extensive and comprehensive investigation just completed by the Yonkers Inspector General’s Department.” The Superintendent’s Report to the Board

states there is no reason to believe that test tampering or other testing improprieties are a pervasive problem. The Inspector General’s expanded investigation reveals that the instances of test tampering were limited to 11 classes at four schools out of the total of approximately 200 regular and special education third, fourth and fifth grade classes in twenty-nine elementary schools.

In a May 22, 2006 letter to Superintendent of Schools Bernard P. Pierorazio, NYSED informed the School District that it was invalidating the 2006 ELA scores of three classes at School 29 and one class at the Casimir Pulaski School and directed the School District to conduct an investigation. NYSED based its decision on an analysis of erasures on students’ multiple choice answer sheets which occurred after they received an undated, anonymous letter which stated that “I was appalled during the correction of the ELA exams, the amount of questionable erasures and responses that were not in children’s handwriting.”

To confirm the integrity and validity of Yonkers Public Schools (YPS) district-wide New York State English Language Arts Exams (ELA) results, after consultation with Trustees of the Board of Education, Superintendent Pierorazio in June 2006 initiated an expanded, comprehensive erasure analysis investigation of YPS elementary schools for the ELA administered in January 2006. The investigation’s scope included grades 3, 4 and 5 in all elementary schools, and the Yonkers Inspector General’s Department (IG) was asked to facilitate the investigation along with YPS administrative staff. “We have chosen to go well beyond the State’s required review to restore confidence in our schools and establish credibility in our process,” said Bernadette Dunne, President, Board of Education. Mr. Pierorazio added, “It is the responsibility of the Yonkers Public Schools to protect the public trust. This community rightfully expects excellence and integrity in education. The Trustees and I are determined to do what is right for the school district.”

The IG’s findings indicated classes in four additional schools necessitated further review - School 5, School 21, Montessori School 31 and Cedar Place School. The investigation revealed no evidence to support that test tampering occurred at School 5 and Montessori School 31.

As a result of these findings, in addition to the test results already invalidated by the NYSED, the Superintendent recommended that the results from two 4th grade and two 5th grade classes at School 21 and three 5th grade classes at Cedar Place School also be invalidated.

In addition, the District is taking steps to strengthen test security in all schools to ensure that, no matter how limited, testing improprieties do not occur in the future. Finally, disciplinary and/or administrative action will occur where appropriate.

According to Philip A. Zisman, Yonkers Inspector General, “While the investigation revealed evidence of test tampering at four schools, it is important to emphasize that there is no reason to believe that test tampering extended beyond those schools or is endemic to the Yonkers Public School system. Erasure analysis was performed on all multiple choice answer sheets for 4,570 students in hundreds of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes in 29 different schools. While test tampering at any level is unacceptable and does a tremendous disservice to educators and parents who rely on test results to make important educational decisions, there is every reason to believe that the results of standardized tests administered at YPS are on the whole reliable and accurate.”