Newport-Mesa Teachers Retire Amid Allegations

Two teachers have retired from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District following allegations that they compromised a standardized exam by circulating old copies of the test, officials said Saturday.

The incident occurred in March, about two months before students took the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. The exam, which the district has used for the past two years, is a commonly used measure of school performance nationwide.

Schoolteachers and principals across the state have come under increasing pressure in recent years to raise student test scores amid public perception that California students are falling behind in reading and mathematics.

Many details about the test incident remain unclear. School district officials declined to identify the teachers, the grade levels of their classes and the school where they worked.

Supt. Mac Bernd said the teachers had shared at least some test questions with students during a school lesson. Bernd said that violated district rules, even though he was not sure whether any of the questions reappeared in the May exam.

“It was cheating in our judgment,” Bernd said. “That’s what it boils down to.”

He said the teachers were placed on administrative leave after the incident was reported by another teacher.

Linda Mook, president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, said the two retired teachers told her Saturday evening they had no comment.

Mook said she believed that only one of the teachers had shown any test material to students. The other teacher, she said, had simply obtained portions of a test. Both retired in April, she said.

Bernd said the incident did not taint the overall test results, which showed moderate gains districtwide.

“You have to have very tight test security,” Bernd said. “If you don’t, the results can be discredited.”

Dana Black, a Newport-Mesa school trustee, said administrators should review the affair closely.

“My first question is: What kind of pressure are these teachers under?” Black said. “What would cause a long-term teacher, who is well respected, to compromise herself like that?”