Camden Test Scores Will Stand, Chief Says: At Her “State of the District” Event, Annette D. Knox Blasted the Critics
By Melanie Burney and Dwight Ott, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Apr. 5–Camden schools chief Annette D. Knox last night blasted critics who questioned the district’s state standardized test scores and predicted investigators would validate the results.
In her second annual “State of the District” event, Knox told about 300 people at the Cherry Hill Hilton that she wanted to share an uplifting message “so everybody can pick their heads up.”
At least three probes are looking into possible testing irregularities in the district, including alleged test rigging and grade changing.
“I’m confident that when the investigations are complete… we will be able to stand by our standardized test scores,” Knox said.
School Board President Philip E. Freeman, who was not present, said in a statement read during the program that the allegations were “quite disturbing” but that “we are confident that the investigation will reveal the truth.”
The state Department of Education is examining unusually high test scores in at least two elementary schools after The Inquirer raised questions. At one school, H.B. Wilson, fourth graders had the highest average math score among 1,300 elementary schools in New Jersey.
The probe was expanded outside Camden to 12 schools with unusual gains. The state has not released their identity or districts.
A separate state investigation is focusing on allegations by Joseph D. Carruth, principal at Camden’s Dr. Charles Brimm Medical Arts High, that Assistant Superintendent Luis Pagan pressured him to rig math scores on last year’s state test.
More than 91 percent of Brimm’s 11th graders tested proficient in math, a 21-point gain.
Carruth has said he did not participate in the alleged scheme. Pagan has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Camden school officials have said the improvement came from hard work, not cheating.
During last night’s nearly three-hour gala, Knox highlighted accomplishments during her five years as superintendent. They include new programs, a unified curriculum, tutoring, smaller classes, and professional development for teachers.
Knox said elementary scores had increased largely due to the state Supreme Court’s Abbott v. Burke decisions, which provide millions of dollars in supplemental money annually to help achieve parity between needy and affluent districts.
Much of that extra funding has focused on elementary grades, she said.
“That our fourth graders have done well should not be surprising. Our students represent the best of the very best,” Knox said.
Despite the gains, the state has labeled the district as one that “needs improvement” under the federal No Child Left Behind law because it has failed to meet proficiency benchmarks.
Knox last night also praised the teachers and staff “who labor under the unfair, ugly scrutiny of outsiders who do not know the great work that the majority of them do.”
Since 1999, the district, which has about 17,000 students and 4,000 employees, has been been under state oversight, a step below a takeover.
Knox was criticized last year for holding her gala at the South Jersey Performing Arts Center, at a cost of $22,000.
This year’s event, expected to cost about $14,000, was sponsored by the Camden Board of Education Foundation, a new nonprofit group that funds activities the district cannot afford.
Knox, 60, has been Camden’s schools chief since January 2001. She previously worked in the Cleveland and New York City public schools.
Contact staff writer Melanie Burney at 856-779-3876 or mburney@phillynews.com.
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