As the Mississippi Department of Education investigates irregularities recently found in the spring 2023 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program test results, an expert on standardized testing said such irregularities are not that uncommon, and he does not believe the incident negates the so-called “Mississippi Miracle” in education.

“I would be careful to say it (cheating) is common,” said Stephen Pruitt, who is currently the sixth president of the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit that works with states to improve all levels of public education though helping policymakers and educators make decisions by providing data and resources. 

“Have there been instances of it (cheating)? Yes,” Pruitt said. “Have there been documented, proven cases of cheating? Yes. Is it pervasive? Absolutely not. States are doing more and more to follow up on those types of issues.” 

Last week, the MDE released findings of an investigation into spring 2023 testing irregularities that resulted in 934 MAAP invalidations due to “testing irregularities” found in five Mississippi school districts and 12 schools — including seven Jackson Public Schools.

Pruitt, a career educator for over 20 years, started as a high school chemistry teacher in Fayette County, Georgia, then worked his way through various positions to become the associate deputy superintendent for assessment and accountability, which made him in charge of all standardized testing conducted in Georgia.

He also served as the former commissioner of education in Kentucky and is now a board member for the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment. 

“I lean a little bit more toward that assessment background, and I enjoy that conversation,” Pruitt said. “We actually built several assessments when I was there (in Kentucky), and I always had to deal with the issues around security. I’ve had experience from everything from writing assessments, to evaluating assessments, to administering them, to the contractual aspects of it.” 

Pruitt said as states do more to ensure security with administering assessments more instances of irregularities come to light.

Jackie Sampsell, Mississippi’s state assessment coordinator, declined to comment for this article, citing the MDE’s ongoing investigation. 

How do the MAAP invalidations affect the ‘Mississippi Miracle?’ 

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In recent months, Mississippi has gained national attention for the state’s improvements in testing scores, specifically because the state went from being ranked the second-worst state in 2013 for fourth-grade reading to 21st in 2022. The state also reported record results in MAAP testing scores in the subjects of mathematics, English language arts, science and U.S. History.

The improvements have come to be known as the “Mississippi Miracle,” though some critics write it off as a “statistical illusion.”

Pruitt said the MAAP invalidations have not impacted the “miracle,” because Mississippi’s student scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress have also validated improvements.

NAEP is a federally administered assessment — the only national assessment taken in all states — given to students in fourth, eighth and 12th grades to assess their reading and math skills. Every four years it’s done in science as well. NAEP assessments are given to a random sampling of students from each state, so as not to allow only the “best” students to participate. 

Pruitt said he is confident in the validity of the NAEPS test results because of the level of security for the federally administered tests. 

“NAEP is under a lot of security,” Pruitt said. “In fact with NAEP you actually have to bring people in to administer the assessment from the outside. It is really tightly managed so that there is not that breach of security.” 

Pruitt said outside administrators can also be brought in for state assessments if there is a question of integrity for a certain school. 

Pruitt has made presentations to other states about the “Mississippi Miracle,” focusing on the increase in reading and math scores at the fourth-grade level. 

In 2009, Mississippi’s average scores in the NAEP reading assessment was 22%, while the national average was 32%. Starting in 2013, Mississippi’s scores started increasing and by 2019 landed at 29%. A slight dip occurred in 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but by 2022 the reading scores were 31%. That is just 1% lower than the national average of 32%. 

The same goes for fourth-grade math scores. In 2009, Mississippi scored 22%, while the national average was 38%. By 2019, Mississippi had increased to just under the national average of 38%. A slight drop again due to the pandemic, but in 2022 Mississippi’s NAEP math assessments scored a 32% compared to the current national average, which is 35%. 

“When you look at the NAEP assessments, that actually validated the increase in scores in the state assessments,” Pruitt said. “So, I don’t think it should take the shine off the polish. I think that certainly MDE and Jackson are doing the right thing in pursuing the investigation, but we shouldn’t let the alleged acts of a few tarnish the hard work that’s gone in for the many.”

Previous widespread cheating

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The last time Pruitt saw widespread cheating on state assessments was during the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal in 2009 in which 44 out of 56 schools were caught cheating on assessments and 178 educators were implicated in changing answers with 35 being indicted on criminal charges.

Pruitt said the Atlanta scandal was “frankly way bigger” than the Mississippi MAAP invalidations, so you can’t compare the two. Only 934 MAAP assessments have been invalidated compared to the 578,515 tests administered in Mississippi in spring 2023. The invalidated tests represent less than two-tenths of 1% of the administered MAAP tests. 

To deter cheating or instances of testing irregularities, Pruitt said it’s important to educate teachers and those administering the tests to know the rules of what they can and can’t do. States usually don’t have the staff to be able to send assessment coordinators to every school, so it’s up to the teachers at a given school to make sure the assessments are being taken truthfully. 

Pruitt said he was cautious to equate every irregularity as downright cheating. An irregularity could occur because of an event happening in the middle of a test, such as a fire drill, or a teacher forgetting to read a page of the instructions. Educators are required to report any such disturbance or mishap if it happens during the administering of the standardized tests. 

“I would really caution you to not equate irregularity with cheating because sometimes those irregularities are where districts honestly say, ‘Look we had this anomaly happen, and we are reporting it to you just in case,’” Pruitt said. “There’s a big difference between irregularities as a broader sense versus being able to determine cheating.” 

After a Jackson Public Schools’ internal investigation, the district took “personnel actions with 43 staff members — including terminations, suspensions and letters of reprimand.” Pruitt would not comment on whether the action taken by the district was proof there was cheating, saying he would have to take a look at the data and evidence before passing judgment on the issue.