Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011

Teachers resign; students retaking test

Two teachers have resigned after some Clayton High School students were given questions before a state-mandated history test. The school is making 86 students retake the test.

Social studies teachers Christopher Cullom and Anthony Zimmerman resigned Friday after the state Department of Public Instruction declared some of the end-of-course test scores invalid, officials said.

Schools spokeswomanTerri Sessoms said students were given review sheets that included one or more questions that were on the actual exam. Some students got the questions before a first test, while others got them before a retest that was offered to students who failed the first test.

"The staff at Clayton High School discovered a problem with the testing process for some of our U.S. History students," Principal Clint Eaves wrote in a letter to parents. "The possible irregularity was thoroughly investigated by Johnston County Schools' district staff and officials with the Department of Public Instruction."

Of the 284 Clayton students who took the U.S. History test, 86 will have to retake the test this week. Their original scores - which count as 25 percent of their final grade - will be canceled, Sessoms said.

Students who have only taken the test once so far will have two chances to pass. Those who've taken it twice already will get one chance, Sessoms said.

"The school system takes many measures to protect the integrity of the testing program," Sessoms said. "Additional measures that will be taken in the future include a more extensive review of testing procedures."

There has been only one other case of testing problems in Johnston schools, Sessoms said, when 16 students had to be retested at South Johnston High in the late 1990s.

Lou Fabrizio, director of accountability for DPI, said the last such incident in North Carolina happened two years ago.

Fabrizio said Johnston schools will submit a report on the recent incident soon, and the state could move to revoke the teaching licenses of those involved. A Forsyth County social studies teacher was suspended without pay in 2000 after he was accused of tampering with tests after students finished them.

Zimmerman, who has worked at the school since 2007, was also its head wrestling coach. Cullom, who is known as "Coach C," had been the school's assistant baseball coach since he was hired in 2008.

"I'm truly sorry that this mistake has called into question my work ethic and the countless hours I spent preparing a challenging course for students," Cullom said Tuesday. "My true intention was to help as many students as possible."

A number of parents and students have spoken out in support of Cullom. "He is a wonderful, wonderful teacher," parent Dana Banks said. "I feel that Johnston County is losing a very valuable teacher."

For his part, Zimmerman said he often worked holidays and weekends to get his students ready for the test. "There was no intent there to act maliciously," he said. "The only intent was to help the students succeed on the test."

Zimmerman's departure will mean new leadership for Clayton's wrestling team as some of its grapplers move into state championship matches. Corey Daker, who had been a volunteer assistant coach, will serve as interim coach for the team. Brian Roach, a Clayton High teacher and one of the school's athletic trainers, will assist Daker.

Clayton athletic director Gary Fowler said Tuesday the search for a replacement assistant baseball coach is under way.

Staff writer D. Clay Best contributed to this report.