wfn.org | Justice Department confirms college not under investigation

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 23, 2000  News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.     10-31-71B{379}

NOTE:  The following information updates UMNS story #377, released Aug. 18.

By United Methodist News Service

"Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., is not the subject or target
of an investigation by federal authorities concerning educational testing." 

That one-sentence statement was issued Aug. 17 by Paula Casey, U.S. Attorney
for the Justice Department's Eastern District of Arkansas.  

The Associated Press reported Aug. 17 that at least 52 teachers from several
states were allowed to cheat on state-required competency exams by paying
bribes to the supervisors for extra time and answers. The test, required of
teachers in 34 states, was administered at the United Methodist-related
school by Educational Testing Service (ETS) of New Jersey, a nonprofit
national test provider. 

College President Trudie Kibbe Reed told United Methodist News Service Aug
18 that the school did not extend the hours of the test or receive any form
of compensation for the test services. The college, she declared, is not
under investigation and has been approved by ETS for use as a future testing
site following a visit to the campus since the initial investigation.

In a statement released Aug. 22, Raymond Nicosia, director of test security
for ETS, said the AP report was erroneous and that the FBI is not pressing
charges against ETS or the college.  "Officials of both ETS and Philander
Smith are working with the FBI on the case, and the focus of the
investigation is on test center personnel and not the college itself," he
said. "The college had no involvement other than serving as testing center."

"We discovered the scheme, turned our findings over to the Little Rock FBI
office, and then worked with them as they launched their own investigation,"
Nicosia added. The ETS release said the AP ran a correction shortly after
the first news story appeared.
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United Methodist News Service
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