In at least three Colorado school districts, teachers proctoring new online state standardized tests this spring have faced discipline or other consequences after students they were supposed to be watching snapped pictures of test items and posted them to social media.
Two Denver Public Schools teachers received letters of reprimand, two Pueblo teachers were disciplined and a Douglas County teacher was barred from a later round of tests, district officials confirmed.
The disclosure in March that a subcontractor for testing giant Pearson was trolling social media for leaked tests items and reporting back to state departments of education drew criticism from anti-testing parent groups and data privacy activists.
That not just students but teachers were disciplined could further inflame a debate in Colorado and nationwide about high-stakes tests and pressures attached to them.
All told, state Department of Education officials say 10 social media breaches in five districts have been flagged — a minuscule number given an estimated 540,000 Colorado students are supposed to take PARCC math and English tests this spring.
The districts would not identify the schools or teachers involved.
Pearson is contractually required to conduct the online detective work, which state officials say is necessary to keep test-takers from gaining an unfair advantage.
Initially, Pearson was matching social media accounts bearing students’ locations to test rosters but stopped at the request of states giving PARCC. Posts are typically removed quickly.
School employees with a role in giving PARCC and other state assessments are required by the state to sign security agreements, said Colorado Department of Education spokeswoman Dana Smith.
Test administrators and proctors must pledge to “supervise the students at all times and focus my full attention on the testing environment,” including not allowing students to access cellphones or unapproved electronic devices, according to the PARCC agreement.
Failure to abide by the terms of the agreement “may result in sanctions including (but not limited to) score invalidation or employment and licensure consequences,” it states.
The PARCC security agreement has been contentious in Massachusetts. The education commissioner there stated proctors do not have to sign the form after the Massachusetts Teachers Association argued it would be subject to collective bargaining.
Smith said Colorado officials have not heard any concerns. She said similar agreements have been in place for years and are consistent with a state law stating the department shall review security policies as necessary to maintain the tests’ integrity.
The lapses in Denver Public Schools involved two teachers, in two separate incidents, allowing student access to cellphones during testing, DPS spokesman Doug Schepman said.
Instructions to schools about cellphones were clear. In a March 12 e-mail, DPS assessment chief Kelly Gilmore wrote: “PLEASE collect all cellphones and other devices (watches, headphones, iPADs) from ALL students before each testing session.”
Decisions to discipline the teachers were made at the school level, Schepman said.
“The best I can tell it was just a matter of accountability,” he said.
A letter of reprimand is typically placed in an employee’s personnel file, and future misconduct may lead to more serious action or discipline up to and including dismissal, DPS says. As opposed to a less-severe letter of warning, a letter of reprimand is usually reserved for “serious or repeated infractions.”
Pam Shamburg, executive director of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, said such discipline might be appropriate in an egregious case, but in most cases “it’s something a teacher can’t control.” She said teachers are not allowed to frisk students.
“Denver mixes up accountability with intimidation,” Shamburg said. “It is an issue we have in the district with bad teacher morale. Teachers feel like they are always being targeted by the district.”
In Pueblo City Schools, two teachers serving as test proctors were disciplined as a result of student social media leaks, district spokesman Scott Jones said. He said the district would not provide information about the nature of sanctions.
Four students at three Douglas County schools took cellphone photos of test items and posted them to social media, the district said.
In a March 26 e-mail, district assessment coordinator Kelly Kirkpatrick implored school leaders to pay attention.
“Today is the third time I’ve received an urgent message from the state regarding student(s) using their phones during testing, taking pics of testing items and putting them out on Twitter,” she wrote. “This could potentially be a huge misadministration so collect phones and actively monitor the testing sessions.”
District spokeswoman Paula Hans said decisions about discipline of the four teachers involved were left to school leaders.
In each case, the school administrator “had a conversation” with the teacher, including a reminder of proper testing procedures, she said. One teacher was prohibited from proctoring the next round of tests.
Other PARCC social media leaks — in Cherry Creek School District in metro Denver and the Fort Collins-based Poudre School District — did not result in proctors being disciplined, district officials said.
The Cherry Creek case involved a student at one high school posting a partial test page on the photo app Snapchat and a student at another school putting it on Facebook, spokeswoman Tustin Amole said.
In the Poudre district, a student retweeted someone else’s image of a test item of unknown origin, spokeswoman Danielle Clark said. The student’s test was invalidated, she said.
School district materials provided in response to open records requests open a window into how much work goes into preparing for the tests, which continue through May 22.
One February, DPS e-mail mentioned a past training session, two support packets, information prepared for parents about the new tests and a suggestion to review a 154-page PARCC test coordinators manual.
The tests — aligned to Common Core standards in English and math — are designed to measure whether kids are on track for college or careers.
Amie Baca-Oehlert, vice president of the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said although she does not know details about the discipline cases, testing pressures can cloud judgment.
“Because of the stress and high-stakes nature,” she said, “it causes some people to go way into an overreaction mode.”
Eric Gorski: 303-954-1971, egorski@denverpost.com or twitter.com/egorski
