Better scores through erasure?

last updated 8 January 2015

Standardized test results soared in Washington, D.C.’s school system under former chancellor Michelle Rhee. But her reform record was thrown into doubt this week by a USA Today investigation, which found that a 2008 spike in pupils’ math and English proficiency at the city’s star elementary school coincided with an unusually high number of wrong-to-right erasures on test papers. Rhee dismissed the allegations as “an insult” to teachers and children, saying scores climbed thanks to her controversial methods—such as handing teachers $8,000 bonuses when grades rose in 2008 and 2010. D.C.’s Education Board will hold a hearing on the matter next week.