By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 31, 2007

The Virginia Department of Education called on Stafford County public schools yesterday to overhaul their testing procedures after finding that 56 students, 12 of them disabled, were improperly excluded from state Standards of Learning examinations this spring at Stafford High School.

A state investigation found a litany of administrative errors in the school's testing. In many cases, students were marked absent when they were not. The state also found some evidence, though not conclusive, that the school's testing coordinator advised students who receive special education not to take the tests.

The report also found "significant gaps" in the reporting of such testing irregularities.

"These are very serious findings," department spokesman Charles Pyle said. "Anything that undermines the credibility of the accountability ratings schools receive is a serious problem."

The Stafford investigation is the state's third since the Standards of Learning tests were first given in 1998. The school's state accreditation and federal No Child Left Behind rating have been delayed, pending the investigation's findings.

The state received two anonymous calls alleging testing problems at Stafford. On June 25, one caller alleged that students with disabilities were kept from taking the test; another said on July 27 that students in mainstream and special education were prevented from taking the test.

The state report called for Stafford education officials to consider personnel changes and to improve training and oversight of testing coordinators. The state also called for the school system to develop a better way to track student participation in the tests.