Schools Tighten CAP Test Security : Education: Los Angeles district officially ends its investigation into cheating allegations. Disciplinary action was taken against those involved in tampering.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has officially ended its investigation into alleged cheating on the annual California Assessment Program tests, with the announcement of tightened security measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the scandal that rocked the district several years ago.

The discovery of a high number of erasures on student test booklets at several district schools in 1986, 1987 and 1988 led to an investigation of whether the tests had been tampered with by teachers seeking to inflate students’ scores to improve their schools’ standing.

The questionable test results were invalidated, but no school district employee was ever publicly identified or disciplined for having altered tests.

However, school board President Jackie Goldberg said Monday that appropriate action had been taken against employees involved in test tampering, but she would not say what actions were taken or identify the employees for fear of lawsuits against the district.

Officials alleged that cheating had occurred at 40 schools statewide, including some in Los Angeles.

The district opened its own investigation of the scandal, and hired a law firm to conduct a separate yearlong probe that resulted in the new security measures disclosed on Monday.

The purpose of the investigations, officials said, was not so much to determine individual responsibility for the erasures but to help the district develop policies to prevent recurrences.

“It was an exhaustive investigation and the board has taken the necessary action,” Goldberg said. “I can assure you that should there be any indication of tampering in the future, people have been very firmly warned.”

Goldberg said the cheating that did take place was by teachers who do not believe in standardized testing and wanted their students to appear to perform well.

The stiffer security measures include having two teachers in each classroom during testing, placing tests in sealed bags immediately after they are completed, and having the school principal or test coordinator supervise teachers who must check, correct or complete the student information part of student answer sheets.

Teachers administering the tests also will be encouraged to attend training sessions, and answer sheets will not be allowed in the schools.

Elementary and junior high schools across the state give the test each year to third-, sixth- and eighth-graders to measure the effectiveness of school districts--not individual student performance--in reading, writing and mathematics. The CAP scores are widely used by parents to judge the quality of their children’s schools.

Some educators have complained that state pressure to raise CAP scores may encourage some teachers and administrators to improperly coach students in preparing for the exams and, in some cases, to change answers.