‘Potential breach of security,’ during TCAP testing led to Tennessee principal’s suspension, resignation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – “I screwed up,” that is what former Randolph Howell Elementary STEM School principal Dr. Michael Ford allegedly said when school district officials started looking into TCAP “testing irregularity” at the Maury County school back in April.

Ford was indefinitely suspended on April 23, 2024, and then resigned two days later, as the district investigated his conduct with a group of students during the statewide test.

Previous Coverage: Midstate elementary school principal resigns amid questions over TCAP test integrity

According to the district’s investigative report, Ford pulled 35 fourth-grade students with “the highest rate of discipline concerns” from their normal classrooms and administered the TCAP test to those students himself. The report claims Ford then transcribed those students’ test answers, possibly violating testing rules.

The revelations come as part of MCPS’s 119-page investigation titled “POTENTIAL BREACH OF SECURITY REPORT” which was sent to the Tennessee Department of Education on April 26, 2024, and obtained by WSMV4 Investigates through a public records request.

According to the investigative report, Ford was questioned by Keith Stacey, the school district’s test coordinator, and admitted to administering the test to a “behavior group” of 35 kids and instructing them to circle their answers in testing booklets, instead of using test answer documents. Ford then allegedly told Stacey that he later transcribed what students indicated their answers to be by bubbling in their answer documents.

The report states that Ford asked at one point “Is that now what we are supposed to do?’  But when Stacy explained to him that transcription is only allowed for students with a documented accommodation or if there is a specific situation requiring transcription, Ford allegedly replied “I screwed up, I screwed up.”

Ford’s conduct with the 35 students first came into question a week after TCAP testing began, when a fourth-grade teacher came forward with concerns that testing was not being conducted as “she thought it should be.”

That teacher explained that some students had been pulled from their regular class to test with the school principal, and “several students” had not “bubbled in their answers.”

During the district’s investigation, one teacher questioned stated in an email that a student claimed she had not completed the ELA portion of the test, but when she saw her answer document the next day, all the bubbles were filled in.

In another email included in the report, a second teacher wrote that a couple of students said that some of their answers on the MATH portion of the test were filled in differently than how they answered in their booklets.

There was also a claim by one of those teachers that the windows on the doors of the room where Ford was testing students were covered with paper.

As part of the investigation, former Assistant Vice Principal Beth Hamilton was also questioned. She served as the building test coordinator at Howell Elementary and retired the day after Ford resigned.

The investigation says Hamilton confirmed that 35 students had been pulled on Ford’s suggestion that the group be created based on their behavior and due to fourth grade losing a teacher.

Hamilton said the behavioral group was not on the school’s original testing schedule and that she “forgot to submit the change” according to the report.

Ford allegedly told Stacey that “[w]e looked at discipline tracker and we sorted students into similar groups based on performance, to ensure students had the best testing environment possible.”

Ford went on according to the investigative report to say that “we took our top kids with the best shot and placed them in the same testing environment’ and “I took the behavior group to help out…and allow for all kids to test in the best environment for them.”

The report says Hamilton told district investigators that “she did not know of Dr. Ford transcribing student answers from the test booklets to the answer documents.”

WSMV4 Investigates reached out to Maury County School, the Department of Education and Ford for an interview to discuss the investigation and the claims made by teachers and students at Howell Elementary.

MCPS denied our request saying in an email “Superintendent Ventura does not discuss current or former employee personnel issues externally and respectfully declines your request for an interview. We believe the issue has been thoroughly investigated and resolved.”

The DOE said by email “[t]he department does not comment on potential or ongoing investigations.” The DOE also said in an earlier email that “staff traveled to the district and oversaw the production of replacement answer documents to ensure students were not negatively impacted.”

And while Ford said in a text message that he could not speak on camera until the matter was fully resolved, he did write that [g]roups were formed to ensure students had the best testing environment possible for success, and district leadership was informed of these groupings and their rationale in advance.”

WSMV4 Investigates has also filed a public records request with the DOE, to obtain any investigation or reports that it produces, and we are still waiting for the production of those materials.

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