Report Card

Education reformer Michelle Rhee said today that a federal investigation should put to rest allegations that educators cheated to improve test scores during her tenure as Washington, D.C., public schools chancellor.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General announced Monday that its investigation found no widespread cheating on state standardized tests during 2008-2010.

In a statement, Rhee said the conclusion supports previous investigations into the allegations, which will be the focus of a "Frontline" episode on PBS that is scheduled to air tonight at 10 p.m.

Rhee, the wife of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, runs the national education lobbying group StudentsFirst, which is based in Sacramento and promotes education reform measures.

"The results confirm what we've long believed, that the vast majority of educators would never compromise their personal or professional integrity to cheat on a test, thereby cheating children," Rhee said in the statement.

The hour-long Frontline program, which The Bee reviewed in advance, primarily recounts Rhee's time as the chancellor of public schools in Washington, D.C., two years ago. After detailing her successes and challenges, the program ends by questioning whether tremendous test score gains could be attributed to widespread cheating.

USA Today first reported in 2011 that, during Rhee's tenure, there were a high rate of erasures at Washington schools with high test score gains.

The Frontline segment questioned whether enough was done to investigate the erasure irregularities.

Rhee's statement said the probe by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General supported previous inquiries and findings by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General and two private investigations.

"At StudentsFirst we believe it is incredibly important to take all allegations of wrongdoing seriously and we thank both offices for doing so," Rhee said in her statement.

Education reformer Michelle Rhee is in the news today and will continue to be as a Frontline television documentary is scheduled to air Tuesday.

The hour-long program, which The Bee reviewed, mostly recounts Rhee's time as the chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public school system two years ago. After detailing her successes and challenges, Frontline ends by questioning whether tremendous test score gains could be attributed to widespread cheating.

USA Today first reported in 2011 that, during Rhee's tenure, there were a high rate of erasures at D.C. schools with high test score gains.

Tuesday's Frontline raises the question of whether enough was done to investigate the erasure irregularities.

The documentary is scheduled to run Tuesday at 10 p.m. on KVIE channel 6.

(Photo courtesy of Frontline.)

For the second consecutive year, there were no schools in the four county region named a National Blue Ribbon School.

Statewide, 23 public schools and one private school received the honor from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for the 2011-2012 school year.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools where students achieve at high levels or have made significant progress to close the achievement gap.

The last school named a National Blue Ribbon School in Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado or Placer counties was in 2010 when Aspire's Capitol Heights Academy and Camellia Basic Elementary School, both in Sacramento City Unified, received the award.

Some great new data was posted this morning on The Bee's website by reporter Phillip Reese showing how public high school students in California scored on the SAT and Advanced Placement exams in 2011.

Standouts include Mira Loma High School, where the average SAT score is 1852 and 92 percent of kids taking AP exams earned college credit, and Davis Senior High School, where the average SAT score is 1815 and 85 percent of students taking AP exams earned college credit.

However, it's interesting to note the number of students taking the exams.

At Mira Loma, 48 percent of seniors took the SATs, while 78 percent of seniors at Davis Senior took it. As for AP exams, 15 percent of Mira Loma seniors and juniors took the tests, compared to 56 percent at Davis Senior.

One of the highest SAT participation rates in the state goes to Sacramento Charter High, where 83 percent of seniors took the test. However, the school posted one of the lowest average score in the region of 1221 out of 2400.

Click HERE to visit the database and look up schools.