(AP) -- Despite dozens of incidents of testing irregularities, Missouri education officials spend nothing for test fraud detection services and have dismantled a program that had sent inspectors into schools for random checks.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the state received more than 100 reports of standardized testing irregularities, including cheating, in 2010 and 2011.
The reports come as pressure to fare will on the Missouri Assessment Program has grown. The results help determine such things as whether districts lose or regain accreditation.
But instead of using statistical analyses that could weed out potential abuses, Missouri education officials rely on a system of self-reporting. It assumes teachers and administrators will come to the state when they know of possible abuse.
State education officials say they don't have the money to do more.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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