The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "standardized testing" ...
-
Cheating Our Children
After using a sophisticated data analysis to expose anomalous gains on standardized tests in Atlanta Public Schools -- anomolies that were shown in 2011 to signal chearing at 44 schools -- the Atlanta Journal-Constitution set out in late 2011 to apply its analysis to school test scores nationwide.
Tags: cheating; standardized tests; schools; teachers
-
Scandals In Atlanta Public Schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed of the 2008 standardized test scores in the Atlanta Public School System and laid the foundation for coverage of what is considered the largest case of academic fraud in the nation's history.
Tags: No Child Left Behind; Atlanta Public Schools; Cheating; Test Fraud; Academic Fraud
-
Testing The System
USA TODAY's "Testing the System" focused on mandated state standardized tests, and in particular, whether radical gains in scores in some schools or classrooms were real or the product of cheating.
Tags: Standardized tests; schools; classrooms; cheating; grades
-
Testing the System
The story focused on mandated state standardized tests and whether radical gains in scores in some schools or classrooms were real or the product of cheating.
Tags: standardized tests; No Child Left Behind; tests; MAP tests; classroom; teachers; cheating
-
"Grading the Teachers"
The LA Times studied schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District. Using gain-score analysis, data linking standardized test scores and various evaluation techniques, the Times identified the "most and least effective" teachers and schools in the district. Reporters examined schools ranked high by the API standard, only to find inconsistencies in student performance.
Tags: California Standards Test; API; Los Angeles Unified School District; LAUSD; RAND; California Public Records Act; United Teachers L.A.
-
What's on the Menu?
Eight stations in the E.W. Scripps Television station Group worked together to investigate claims by national restaurant chains about low-fat and low-calorie menu items. The group specifically gathered menus from restaurants who listed the fat and/or calorie content directly on their menus, and decided to have the food tested at Analytical Laboratories, Inc. in Boise, Idaho. They created an excel spreadsheet and assigned each station three foods listed on various low-fat/low-calorie menus on the same way. The stations each packed their food the exact same way and videotaped this procedure to verify protocol. The packages were then sent overnight to Analytical Laboratories, Inc. for testing. The test results showed that out of the 23 items tested, 78% were over the fat limit and almost 69% were over the calorie limit listed on the package. A producer from KNXV-TV then contacted all the restaurants involved in the test and asked for a response. No company would go on camera for the story, though the company that owns Chili's and Macaroni Grill apologized and said they would work to reinforce the menu standards.
Tags: food; nutrition; low-fat; low-calorie; Ohio; false advertising
-
The F-School Bomb
"F-School Bomb" tells the story of English teacher Erika Selig's attempts to address a serious lack of discipline at Allapattah Middle School where she taught. Through Selig's eyes, readers were able to get a first-hand look into the daunting problems facing children, teachers and administrators inside a title 1 school. From racially charged fights between Hispanic and black students to the pressures of teaching students to pass Florida's standardized tests, Allapattah Middle School exemplified everything that is wrong with inner-city failing schools.
Tags: inner-city schools; education; standardized tests; race; public schools; juvenile delinquents; teaching
-
The Teachers Who Cheat
This investigation found that at least 123 public schools in California have admitted to cheating or other testing irregularities over the last three years. One problem with the system is that school districts are supposed to voluntarily report incidents of cheating. The Chronicle's analysis found cheating to be more widespread than state records say.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award; education; teachers; cheating; standardized tests; CAR; statistical analysis
-
Faking the Grade
This investigation, a follow up of a 2004 investigation of the same subject, found that test scores of more than 50,000 students across Texas show evidence of cheating. Cheating includes copying by students, as tests that are doctored by teachers and school administrators. Cheating is most common at underachieving schools, where the pressure to boost scores is the highest.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award; education; students; schools; cheating; tests; standardized tests; No Child Left Behind; regression analysis; Texas Education Agency; CAR; public records laws
-
The $10 Billion Hole
This project, which included three major stories and several smaller pieces, revealed the many problems that plague education funding in Illinois. The investigation found that reliance on property taxes to fund education leads to funding inequalities that keep lower-income neighborhoods at a disadvantage. The story also found that the state loses $10 billion in "social costs" (such as prisons and public assistance) from high school dropouts. Finally, the reporters also found that higher levels of education do not necessarily guarantee higher test scores.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award; education; funding; state government; property taxes; statistical analysis; standardized tests; CAR