School district completes investigation

GREEN BAY - The final report on Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination (WKCE) testing irregularities at Eisenhower Elementary School in Green Bay shows the problems were limited to that one school.

The reports say the staff at Eisenhower was directed by the principal at the time, Claudia Orr, to preview the upcoming WKCE test prior to administering the test to students.

• Click here to read the final report

A seven page letter to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction completes the Green Bay School District's investigation into student testing irregularities at Eisenhower Elementary.

The district first reported the problem late last year. That's when the district discovered teachers created practice tests for students, that in one case, contained up to 76 percent of questions that appeared on the actual state test.
 
And the investigation now shows last fall's Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination wasn't the first to be compromised.

"There's evidence it goes back three years it was kind of like something that built over time and got more formalized over time," said Assistant Superintendent Margaret Christensen.

At the center of the controversy is Claudia Orr. The report doesn't use Orr's name, instead it refers to her as the former principal at Eisenhower.
 
Orr stepped up efforts to better prepare students for state testing after the school failed to meet some WKCE standards back in 2008.  

Weekend classes, parent meetings and practice testing were put into place to boosts scores. The result was higher scores. The DPI reports in 2008, just 54.2 percent of 4th grade students at Eisenhower scored advanced or proficient in math. The score soared to 80.4 percent in 2009.   

Orr back in 2010 won a national award for excellence in education and said at the time, "Our kids are doing fantastic, our test scores went up drastically and this is really about the kids."

"We're not interested in necessarily pointing finger at who's at fault, there is discipline action that is being taken our focus is really on improving standardized testing protocols," said Michelle Langenfeld, Green Bay Schools Superintendent.

Langenfeld says Orr was given permission for teachers to preview last fall's tests. That is legal, but the district says the permission stopped there.

The report indicates Orr alleged other principals also used practice tests with live items. But the district's investigation found no other schools were involved in using live test questions.

"Other schools have used them appropriately in terms of their data analysis but they have not copied the items or slightly altered them to create practice tests," said Langenfeld.

Previously, Orr indicated to FOX 11 a confidentiality agreement with the district prevented her from commenting on the investigation although she has denied any wrongdoing.

We asked if the district would let her speak to us now. Langenfeld indicated that was up to Orr.

So we tried to track down Claudia Orr for comment on the district's investigation. She now has an office at the district's downtown building. We were told she would be out of the office until Friday.

Then later Wednesday afternoon, both the school district and Orr's attorney told FOX 11 Orr would have no comment on the report.

As for the district, Langenfeld says the plan is to stop teaching to the test and concentrate on doing a better job in the classroom.