ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A tribunal has decided to uphold Atlanta Public School Superintendent Erroll Davis' recommendation to terminate Ashlyn Strozier, a teacher accused of cheating during the 2009 CRCT testing.
Strozier had to go before the tribunal on Wednesday because her fourth grade classroom at Woodson Elementary School fourth had so many correct answers on the standardized testing that a state expert testified it was highly unlikely that cheating did not occur.
That witness, Adrian Neely, analyzed test results for the Governor's Office of Student Achievement. She said the state average of standard deviations for tests that Strozier's students took was about .99. Meanwhile, Strozier's students' tests' standard deviations were more that 15 - which Neely said was suspicious.
"That just does not happen in nature," Neely said. "It was almost like winning the Powerball three times."
But Strozier's attorney pointed out that 63 percent of classrooms at Woodson Elementary were flagged, and that it's possible that someone else was changing answers.
The state's Professional Standards Commission, which makes decisions about teachers' licenses across the state, moved in April to suspend Strozier's license for two years.
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