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Woodland Hills website lists some student test scores in errorDec 04, 2010 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A superintendent's report posted on the Internet -- intended to help Woodland Hills school board members decide whether to stop using an alternative school -- exposed for more than a week the confidential state test scores of individual students. Woodland Hills Superintendent Walter Calinger said the portion of his report containing the names and performance levels of 12 students attending Boyce Campus Middle College High School should have been removed before the report was posted online. The list, which compared Middle College students' proficiency on state 11th-grade math and reading tests to that of Woodland Hills High School students overall, was removed Wednesday afternoon. "They're down now; they never should have been put up. It was a mistake," said Dr. Calinger. The admission was little consolation to students on the list and their parents. "I'm furious," said parent Catherine Rupert. "When I first went online and saw it I thought, somebody has to pay for this." Parent Paula Benucci of Forest Hills said she called the U.S. Department of Education to research her options as soon as she discovered her son's information was online. "I was stunned and very worried about who had gotten access to it," she said. Middle College senior Keeira Mathews, 18, who is on the list, said she and other classmates didn't think that the information had spread to Facebook or other sites, but she said there's no way to be sure. "It's personal what we did on our tests, and it shouldn't be anybody else's business how we do on our tests," she said. Middle College is an alternative high school on the Boyce campus of Community College of Allegheny County where students who had problems in their home districts take high school and sometimes college classes. Throughout the nation, middle college high schools combine high school and college resources to provide an instructional program that emphasizes small classes, guidance and a strong bond with faculty. The Internet posting was at odds with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which prohibits dissemination of students' personal information -- including test scores -- without written approval. The act allows for such information to be shared with "school officials with legitimate educational interest." Any legal ramifications would be up to the U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office, which, if it were to receive a complaint, would determine whether a violation took place. A violating institution would be ordered to comply or face a loss of funding. Dr. Calinger said information regarding Middle College was posted to spark discussion about whether the district should continue to support the program. Woodland Hills sends 39 students to the school, which has a total of 164 students. The school opened in 1996 with support from Gateway, Penn Hills, Plum, Woodland Hills and CCAC. His report showed that students at Woodland Hills High School scored higher in math and reading than students at the Middle College on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests given in 11th grade in the spring this year. The report also estimated it will cost $370,361 to send Woodland Hills students to the Middle College in 2010-11. Dr. Calinger says it is only fair to consider in-house programs for those students. "BCMC may have been very good in its time, but we have a plethora of choices for our students now," he said. He said he has met with officials from Penn Hills, Gateway and Plum to discuss issues with the Middle College. Gateway officials did not return calls for comment, but officials from Plum and Penn Hills have said there has been no formal discussion regarding removing students from the school. Middle College Principal Michele Markiewicz said Dr. Calinger told her he will recommend the Woodland Hills School Board vote at its Dec. 13 meeting to stop sending students to the program. Deborah M. Todd: [email protected] or 412-263-1652. To see more of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.post-gazette.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |