Public to comment on testing problems

NORFOLK, Va. - For the first time since testing problems were discovered at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk, the public will get to comment on the findings.

The School Board is holding a public forum Wednesday night at 5 p.m., on the 12th floor of the School Administration Building on East City Hall Ave.

The testing trouble is the subject of a 20 page Virginia Department of Education report.

According to the VDOE report, the state was notified when a phone complaint was received, alleging that the participation criteria for the VGLA were not being implemented properly.

According to the complainant, school administrators pressured Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams to place students with disabilities in the VGLA if students were exposed to grade-level curriculum regardless of their functional level in the content area.

The complainant also alleges that evidence placed in the VGLA Collections of Evidence was fabricated to inflate scores and students were given worksheets completed by the teacher and asked to rewrite the answers in their own handwriting.

VDOE investigators concluded in their review that "two teachers violated rules... shown by... the submission of multiple students' work, containing identical answers."

Again, the public will be able to comment on the testing investigation, Wednesday night. Stay with WAVY News 10 and WAVY.com for the latest.