ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Former second-grade teacher at Finch Elementary School, Curtis Collier, denied allegations that he cheated on the 2009 CRCT.
Collier said that not only did he not cheat, but he also tried to argue about testing irregularities with his school's testing coordinator and principal.
But a study of the 2009 CRCT results by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement showed an unusually high number of students answers that were corrected. The report, said former executive director Kathleen Mathers, does not point fingers at particular people.
"This data does not say conclusively that cheating did happen, it just describes the likelihood of it," Mathers said.
Collier's classroom was flagged for a high number of corrected answers, but he never admitted to cheating. Instead, Collier said, he tried to protest to his administrators when they urged him and other teachers to erase stray marks from students' answer booklets after testing.
"They also wanted you to, in my opinion, baby the students and make the answers darker, which I didn't feel comfortable with because it was just too much room for error," Collier said. "It was just a big mess. I was just concerned that there was just room for error, like if a teacher decided to cheat they could easily have that opportunity right then and there."
Superintendent Erroll Davis said he has lost confidence in Collier's ability to teach students and test them properly.
"We have recommended that he be non-renewed," Davis said of Collier's teaching contract. "We believe there is sufficient facts and circumstances to substantiate our view."
Collier's attorney LeRoya Chester Jennings said that Collier's teaching license has not been suspended.
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