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James Hope Did Not Act Unprofessionally
A Gwinnett County teacher who had six sample standardized test questions posted on the Internet has been cleared of wrongdoing by a Superior Court judge.
Centerville Elementary teacher James Hope, who was saved from a six-month license suspension by the ruling last week, said Tuesday he feels vindicated and will continue to speak out against the Gateway Test, which is used by Gwinnett schools as a tool to decide whether students should be promoted to the next grade level.
"I would like to thank the Georgia Association of Educators for backing me as a teacher willing to express an opinion that the Gateway is not a good test," said Hope. "What this has proven is that you are allowed to speak out in this country on matters of interest to taxpayers. I think what I did was the right thing, and I would do it again."
Gwinnett County Public Schools cited the teacher for misconduct in April 2000 for having his wife post sample Gateway questions and observations he made about students' struggles with the exam on the Concerned Parents of Gwinnett Web site. The school district spent $6 million developing the test to assess student performance.
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission --the state's education ethics watchdogs -- launched an investigation after the incident to determine whether Hope violated the Code of Ethics dealing with standardized tests. Last April, an administrative law judge recommended that the teacher's license be suspended for six months as punishment.
The Georgia Association of Educators delayed the suspension until the Fulton County Circuit Court heard the case. Fulton County Judge Gail Tusan ruled on Dec. 11 that the Professional Standards Commission did not have enough evidence against Hope to suspend his license for the alleged violation.
Gwinnett County administrators said they had not been formally notified of the ruling, but they did not agree with it. "School system officials are disappointed," said Sloan Roach, spokeswoman for Gwinnett County Schools. "The judge interpreted the [commission's] standard in a manner that is inconsistent with the [commission's] intent in writing its Code of Ethics, specifically the standard governing honesty and integrity."
Tusan said the teacher did not act unprofessionally. "The respondent has made no issue of Mr. Hope's preparation of the students for the exam or their exam scores. . . . Rather the respondent takes issue with what Mr. Hope did apart from the test. The purpose of the posting was to facilitate public review and discussion. Public policy dictates that Mr. Hope, a veteran educator, be able to actively participate in the public debate regarding the test."
Hope -- who was elected Centerville's Teacher of the Year in 2000-01-- says he did not breach any ethical code. At one point in the investigation, he also was accused of stealing a copy of the test.
"In no way did I cheat. In no way was I dishonest," said Hope.
The teacher said he felt compelled to tell parents the Gateway was invalid because it covered material in history and math that teachers had not taught in class, Hope said.
"I had children crying during the test because some of the questions were so poorly worded. They knew that they weren't giving the right answers and felt they would possibly fail the fourth grade."
Hope said he could not share with his students that passing scores on the test had been set so low that virtually anyone could pass. In some cases, a fourth-grade student needed 14 points out of a total 59, or 23.7 percent, to earn a passing grade, he said.
Since the incident, Hope, a teacher for 18 years, has remained at Centerville waiting to learn his fate.
"Mr. Hope never wanted to be a poster child for the abuses of high-stakes testing," said Terry Thomas, the Georgia Association of Education counsel who represented Hope. "His school administrators have been very supportive. The folks in the ivory tower were the ones who brought the heat."
During his two-year ordeal, Hope said he has braved the confiscation of his phone records, visits by school police, a lie detector test and threats that an officer was heading to his classroom in 2001 to watch him administer the
Gateway.
"The school system said what I did was a crime. There is still an open criminal investigation against me for posting the questions," Hope said. "I hope this nightmare is finally over."
— D. Aileen Dodd
Ruling clears teacher opposed to Gateway test
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dec. 18, 2002
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/gwinnett/1202/18teacher.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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