FREMONT, Mich. (April 14, 2014) — Fremont Public Schools released a letter to parents Friday stating the district has been cleared after accusations that some students cheated on their ACT.
From the very beginning, Superintendent Jim Hieftje said his students would be vindicated and now they are, according to the district’s letter:
May 16, 2014
Dear Parents:
We have good news to share. The national and state officials who have been reviewing our students ACT math scores said the students’ tests are valid and that our test administrators did not violate ACT rules for administration of the test.
While we are very pleased to finally hear the results of these reviews, we have never wavered in our belief in our students and staff. Their integrity, and the honor of our school district, has been upheld.
The review from the national office of the American College Test found no irregularity or impropriety. They determined that the use of the calculators did not violate the stated administration rules for the March 2014 ACT assessment.
Students had the option of using school-issued calculators, which included a file of mathematics information, on the mathematics portion of the ACT assessment and Michigan Merit Exam (MME).
The Michigan Department of Education review noted that our test administrators appropriately followed ACT calculator use guidelines, which prohibit clearing approved calculators of stored information before or during the test.
MDEs policy for using calculators during these tests is in place throughout Michigan and the nation, and may have been in effect since the first state ACT administration, according to their report. MDE said they do not know to what extent other Michigan schools have been storing information in files or what programs may be on calculators during test administration.
MDE told us its own policies regarding calculator use during tests lack clarity and are not fully in line with the ACTs calculator policy. They plan to review their test policies and determine if more clarification is needed concerning ACT calculator use.
Fremont supports the state’s efforts to improve the clarity of their policies, which will benefit schools all across the state, and we will continue to support MDE to ensure best practices in their ACT and MME test administration.
So, while we are pleased to announce to the world that we clearly followed the rules for this test, we also want to say that we are grateful to everyone who supported our students and staff during this time.
It’s great to be a Packer.
Sincerely,
Jim Hieftje, Superintendent
Scott Sherman, High School Principal
