8th educator charged in Pa. test-cheating probe

January 7, 2015 at 5:43p.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former Philadelphia principal has become the eighth person charged in a sweeping grand jury probe of cheating on standardized tests.

State authorities say they arrested 43-year-old Lolamarie Davis-O’Rourke of Williamstown, N.J., today.

Authorities say she steered both students and teachers to change incorrect answers on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment to boost test scores.

They say a data company put the chance of the 2011 erasure patterns occurring naturally at less than 1 in 100 million.

The state Attorney General’s Office has charged Davis-O’Rourke with records tampering, forgery and conspiracy.

The former leader of Alain Locke Elementary has previously surrendered her principal’s certificate.