Washington Twp. schools investigate ISTEP accusations

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Washington Township’s superintendent on Wednesday addressed allegations that a teacher violated ISTEP testing rules at North Central High School.

“Last week it was brought to our attention that there are serious allegations of violation in testing protocol for end of course assessment exams in biology at North Central High School,” Dr. Nikki Woodson, superintendent of Washington Township Schools, said during a school board meeting Wednesday night.

“We are pursuing a robust investigation,” she said.

Woodson refers to an investigation under way in the Indiana Department of Education. The department is looking into accusations that a teacher copied and shared a list of questions from a previous year’s end of course assessment test in biology. That action would be a breach of test security.

The district is now conducting an internal investigation, and a spokesperson said they’ll submit a preliminary report to the Department of Education on Friday.

“This will be a comprehensive investigation, and we will not let any stone go unturned,” Woodson said.

“The allegations are very serious, and it’s very important we look into them to determine what the actual facts of the situation are,”
said Anthony Dzwonar, school board president.

We asked parents what they thought of the accusations.

“It doesn’t surprise me. Teachers are under a lot of pressure to make those test scores,” Todd Davis said. “I think the state’s wrong in doing what they’re doing ... . It takes away from the way teachers are teaching.”

But another parent was more disappointed.

“It’s supposed to be fair, it’s supposed to be standardized testing, and you’re supposed to find out what the relative strengths and weaknesses of the school are. It’s difficult to hear a teacher takes advantage of the system,” said Lee Christie, who had multiple children go through North Central.

A spokesperson for the DOE said their investigation is ongoing.