News Releases
Thursday, July 12, 2012 FCPS Reports Testing Irregularity to VDOE
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) learned and reported that a testing irregularity occurred at Fort Belvoir Elementary School during the testing window for the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests during the 2011-12 school year. FCPS reported the irregularity immediately to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
An internal investigation revealed that some third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers at Fort Belvoir Elementary School did not consistently follow the instructions in the examiner’s manual. In these classes, students completed their work in the test booklets before they were allowed to bubble in their answer documents, and some booklets were reviewed for completeness before the students were permitted to proceed. These practices are not allowed and resulted in the testing irregularity.
FCPS is contacting the parents of students who were affected by the testing irregularity. These parents will have the option to have their child’s SOL scores in reading, writing, and/or mathematics from the 2011-12 school year invalidated. Students whose test scores are invalidated will not have their academic record affected.
To ensure correct testing procedures in the future, all Fort Belvoir staff members will participate in a detailed training session in test administration. The FCPS Department of Professional Learning and Accountability will conduct a testing audit at Fort Belvoir during the 2012-13 school year. The school is also required to submit a corrective action plan to the VDOE, outlining preventive steps to ensure this situation will not occur in the future.
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Note: For more information, contact Terri Breeden, assistant superintendent for professional learning and accountability, at 571-423-1300.
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