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For 15 years, teachers in three Southern states paid Clarence Mumford Sr. — himself a longtime educator — to send someone else to take the tests in their place, authorities said. Each time, Mumford received a fee of between $1,500 and $3,000 to send one of his test ringers with fake identification to the Praxis exam. In return, his customers got a passing grade and began their careers as cheaters, according to federal prosecutors in Memphis.
Authorities say the scheme affected hundreds — if not thousands — of public school students who ended up being taught by unqualified instructors.
Mel Evans / AP
Princeton, N.J.-based Educational Testing Services writes and administers Praxis teacher certification examinations.
Mumford faces more than 60 fraud and conspiracy charges that claim he created fake driver's licenses with the information of a teacher or an aspiring teacher and attached the photograph of a test-taker. Prospective teachers are accused of giving Mumford their Social Security numbers for him to make the fake identities.
The hired-test takers went to testing centers, showed the proctor the fake license, and passed the certification exam, prosecutors say. Then, the aspiring teacher used the test score to secure a job with a public school district, the indictment alleges. Fourteen people have been charged with mail and Social Security fraud, and four people have pleaded guilty to charges associated with the scheme.
Mumford "obtained tens of thousands of dollars" during the alleged conspiracy, which prosecutors say lasted from 1995 to 2010 in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Among those charged is former University of Tennessee and NFL wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, who is accused of employing a test-taker for a Praxis physical education exam. He was charged in late October with four counts of Social Security and mail fraud. He has pleaded not guilty and is out of jail on a $10,000 bond. He has been suspended by the Memphis City Schools system.
Charlie Riedel / AP
In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 23, Neal Kingston, director of the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas, talks about testing fraud in his Lawrence, Kan., office.
If convicted, Mumford could face between two and 20 years in prison on each count. The teachers face between two and 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.
Lawyers for Mumford and Wilson did not return calls for comment.
Prosecutors and standardized test experts say students were hurt the most by the scheme because they were being taught by unqualified teachers. It also sheds some light on the nature of cheating and the lengths people go to in order to get ahead.
"As technology keeps advancing, there are more and more ways to cheat on tests of this kind," said Neal Kingston, director of the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas. "There's a never-ending war between those who try to maintain standards and those who are looking out for their own interests."
Cheating on standardized tests is not new, and it can be as simple as looking at the other person's test sheet. The Internet and cell phones have made it easier for students to cheat in a variety of ways. In the past few years, investigations into cheating on standardized tests for K-12 students have surfaced in Atlanta, New York and El Paso, Texas.
Still, most of the recent test-taking scandals involved students taking tests, not people taking teacher certification exams. Cheating scams involving teacher certification tests are more unusual, said Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing.
Schaeffer notes that a large-scale scandal involving teacher certification tests was discovered in 2000, also in the South. In that case, 52 teachers were charged with paying up to $1,000 apiece to a former Educational Testing Services proctor to ensure a passing grade on teacher certification tests.
Teachers from Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi took tests through Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., in 1998. The college was not accused of wrongdoing.
Educational Testing Services also writes and administers the Praxis examinations involved in the Memphis case. ETS spokesman Tom Ewing said the company discovered the cheating in June 2009, conducted an investigation and canceled scores. The company began meeting with authorities to turn over the information in late 2009, Ewing said.
"These cases are rare, but we consider them to be very serious and something we have to guard against happening for all the honest test-takers, students and teachers," Ewing said.
Ewing said ETS observes test-takers and reviews test scores to try to root out cheaters. ETS also has received anonymous tips that have led them to cheaters, Ewing said.
Prosecutors in the Mumford case say he, the teachers and test-takers used the Internet and the U.S. Postal Service to register and pay for the tests, and to receive payment. The indictment does not say how much he allegedly paid the test-takers.
An experienced educator, Mumford was working for Memphis City Schools when the alleged scam took place. Authorities say Mumford defrauded the three states by making the fake driver's licenses.
"What happens at many testing centers is that a whole bunch of test-takers show up simultaneously, early on a Saturday morning, and the proctors give only a cursory look to the identification," Schaeffer said. "It's not like going through airport security where a guy holds up a magnifying glass and puts our license under ultraviolet light to make sure it has not been tampered with."
Mumford was fired after news of the investigation came out, and others, like Wilson, have been suspended. But at least three teachers implicated in the scandal remain employed with their school district.
Kingston, the university professor, said prospective teachers may not be confident in their knowledge base to pass the test. Or, the cheaters may believe they are smart enough to pass on their own but also know they are poor test takers.
Kingston said his research has shown that cheating on exams is getting more prevalent.
"The propensity to cheat on exams both through college and for licensure and certification exams seems to be increasing over time," said Kingston. "People often don't see it as something wrong."
The pressure of passing the test could make people do things they normally would not do. And it could take a while for authorities and test-taking services to catch up with the cheaters.
"When people come up with a new method for cheating, it takes some time for folks to figure it out, partly because this has been an understudied area in the field of assessment," Kingston said.
Nina Monfredo, a 23-year-old history teacher at Power Center Academy in Memphis, has taken Praxis exams for history, geography, middle school content, and secondary teaching and learning.
Monfredo, who passed all her tests and is not involved in the fraud case, said the exams she took were relatively easy for someone who has a high school education. She said some people use study aids to prepare, but she didn't. And she didn't feel much pressure because it was her understanding that she could take the test again if she did not pass.
"If you feel like you can't pass and you hire someone it means you really didn't know what you were doing," she said. "I think it would be easier to just learn what's on the test."
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Please enough with the political jabs, the election is over time to live with the results.
Personally I have never seen a good reason to have a teachers union. There are many areas that a Union is a necessity but in teaching and in government jobs at any level it only crushes the taxpayers with a larger burden.
Disabled lady...are you a teacher? If not, that would explain your inability to understand why it would be necessary. Unlike a regular job, where you are individually recognized for a job well done and given a raise. As a teacher, you are not. You work year after year, doing your best work, no Christmas bonus, no company picnic or Christmas party, no raise based on your performance, until finally one year the union comes in and renegotiates your salary and you get a 2% cost of living raise. Which before taxes turns out to be $66 a month or $16.50 a week. Of course that is before we pay our own health insurance and taxes are taken out. Considering WE are educating YOUR children and in most cases quite well, the union fought to to get us an extra $0.16 per day per child we teach...my question is why is it that so many act like we are trying to BURDEN you so?
Explains why we have a 2nd rate public education system in this country.
If found guilty, fire them all and not allow these teachers to teach anywhere again. Nothing like falsifying your job application.
I would not change any of my public teachers that I had in the past. College was a different story. Mom and Dad were/are the best teachers, by far.
It's about time we started busting some of these education and testing frauds! People who actually earned their way could really use those jobs and benefits! It is refreshing to see people doing their job in keeping cheaters from costing the public.
If Only I could convince the Fed's to get rid of some of the known EMS here in Michigan. Been trying to get Michigan authorities to rid our streets of dangerous frauds since the year 2000, with no luck. The state is more into burying EMS education fraud than making sure our already vulnerable citizens safer. Not to mention, the students who do work hard and actually earn their way through to testing. They deserve those jobs! Scammers don't just cost others, jobs. They commit education fraud, insurance fraud, they practice without a valid license, and put so many lives in danger. Just the insurance fraud implications alone must be worth millions and millions...
No surprise that this occurred in the South. Teachers pay is so low and they draw the bottom of the barrel of educators who if really qualified, could make more money and get better benefits somewhere else. The South needs better teachers so they can improve the school systems to graduate people who would be qualified to go on to improve their education. This is a lose, lose situation.
America has become so dumbed down I can't believe it. The re-election of failure tells me America had become complacent. Complacency is the enemy. To not replace a failing president or any failing politician is insane.
Exactly. More takers than makers now.
Wow. I took the exam, as I was a substitute teacher after retirement. You had to be a vegetable not to pass it, but I can understand as I saw some of the candidates. For example, just after the proctor gave some of the rules, including using the restroom, one of the candidates asked, "What do we do if we need to go to the restroom?"
OMG...
No wonder students are failing in schools. Everyone of these fakes should serve years in prison for this going all the way back to 95. It's unreal how they beat the system. Can't even pass a test on their own merits because they know themselves they are an idiot. The people taking the tests, the one that set this whole thing in motion and all those involved should be seeing long term prison sentences! No wonder we have idiot children working wal-mart, mcdonald's, etc.
Shameful indeed! They need to be fired and brought up on criminal charges. Children need to have good examples to look up to...
I believe it takes a lot more than passing a test to become a qualified teacher. They should initiate a process whereby teachers are assessed in the classroom as to their competency not what score they got on a test. Fpr example, I did some work with a school reform group who about 10 or so years ago worked with schools on school reform - as part of the process, we observed teachers in the classroom who were implementing school reform procedures and graded them accordingly. The same could be done with the efficacy of classroom teaching. It would take work to develop evaluation procedures to be used, but would be effective in determining whether a teacher needed more education or was not qualified to be a teacher. I attended Catholic school for 8 years and was surprised later on in life that the majority of nuns did not even have a degree, but were great teachers and I learned a lot - one area that I felt needed improvement was math. We learned Algebra, but our public school counterparts also had geometry classes before they reached high school. What the evaluation would entail, I have no idea because I have never been a teacher or observed a teacher in the classroom and had to evaluate her performance. You could have a person get the highest grade on a test, but did not have the skills to interact with children.
Teachers are assessed in the classroom! You seem to have misunderstood what happened. If someone wants to be a public school teacher, that person must go to college. During senior year, an education student must "student-teach", which is the same thing as a non-paid internship. At this time the student is evaluated by the college/university, the classroom teacher, and sometimes even the administrator of the school. Before graduation, this student must also pass the ETS exam. It is this exam the teachers in Texas were caught cheating on. All you have to do is pass the test...you aren't rated on how well you did on it. The test is only one of the hoops you have to jump through.
Anyone who thinks this only happens in the South needs to dig their head out of their South.
Here in Columbus Ohio we have an ongoing investigation in the school district's highest office involving attendance numbers.
But your homework assignment is this: Stop trolling the internet looking for stories to blame on FOX News and start inquiring at your local universities as to where the top students are being educated, you will be surprised at the answer, Hint: It is not from the Public School Sysytems.
Forty years ago, the big story breaking across the country was how so many doctors had paid someone to take their medical exams for them.
It came out because of a particularly nasty malpractice case. Don't remember all the details now.
And no, it isn't happening just in the South.
This is almost as much of an atrocity as the fact that people are elected to government office to run this country who never show up for work.
there should be no wonder as to why this country and its future are in the pits. our children's educators are lying, cheating miscreants. no morals or ethics at all.
claudicate,
Would you like to amend that statement or do you intend to indict every one of the million school teachers out there. Every school teacher ,according to your statement, is a lying cheating miscreant?
Among morons you are a king.
no, i would NOT like to amend my statement. go read the news: teachers painting students faces for not reaching goals, teachers humiliating students in class, teachers having sex with students, and now this. theres a story for each one of those listed above and they are spread throughout the country. speaks for itself
Dear Chris Cone. You sound like someone that didn't get through the 5th grade. Therefore, your comments mean nothing. You couldn't teach if you tried. Shut up until you know something about anything.
My niece told me that when she was in high school, it was a known fact among the student body that some of the teachers in the school were passing students who honestly, couldn't read. They would have their friends do thier work for them for a price. How the hell does someone get out of grade school, much less high school and not know how to read and write. This just tells me the teacher is at fault in every degree and doesn't find a certain student worth their time or effort, so pass them and let the other teachers and society deal with it.
Buddy, what you state is hearsay. How was it when you went to school? Did they have social promotions then as well? You key one point that is true. The break down didn't occur at the high school it happened much, much earlier. But since the teacher couldn't deport them back to the second grade and the system obviously didn't offer any alternative, what would you have them do?
we have the defender here in bullet171. on a quest to save the not-so-good name of teachers everywhere!!!! **cue the superhero music**
See!! What a lesson for our children...can't win fair? cheat. Our system is broken folks.
Now that we "know", or is it "no", does anybody expect this will result in any great changes? Or, is it "business as usual"?
As a teacher who passed her own test, when did this become a forum to bash those of us who love what we do and are qualified at what we do?? Some that are quick to comment about this topic have no idea about the education system and what teachers deal with on a day to day bases. Most of you have gone to school and were able to get jobs thanks to those who taught you.
.
Uh... Meg. Check your work before submitting please. You only get a c+ for grammar and word usage.
This is Newsvine, Meg. There will always be curmudgeons spouting off ignorant diatribe. Please don't take it personally. ;-)
I bet if they investigated in Chicago, they would find most cheated their way in.
There have been countless studies that show "standardized tests are not a good indicator of success." One would hope that there are other factors involved when hiring a candidate for a teaching job.
But if success on standardized tests is so important, here is a simple way to weed out an unqualified applicant --> When a prospective teacher is being interviewed for job placement, the HR person or Department Chairman asks the candidate to discuss the content of the essay they wrote while completing the standardized exam. If the candidate is unable to cohesively explain their own essay, chances are they cheated.
The teacher certification exam is pretty easy. I took one, and passed the first time. For the generalist exams, you must show "basic" competency to teach all subjects such as math, science, English grammar, etc. Its not hard. If someone is too dumb to pass, they don't need to teach period. Schools also need to give a competency exam before hiring someone as a teacher.
I know someone who is a substitute teacher, and she is so dumb that she cannot write a complete sentence, spell at the sixth grade level or do basic mathematical computation. I wish her school would realize this and quit letting her substitute teach. I wouldn't want her as a sub teacher for my kid, that's for sure!
Hell this @!$%# goes on ramped in colleges, so what's new. So much for all those educated boys and girls. Money talks and bull@!$%# walks seems to be the standard in the United States as always. As I said nothing new, been going on for a longtime and will continue as money runs this country. There is no morals, just get ahead anyway you can, cheat, steal, lie, on and on. So much for the educated. LMAO
Sendz hiz arse to da jailz... All of dem... Ya'll know the south haz interior schoolz anywayz dun cha?
Youz pepuls up norths thingz we dun get a good educatun. We's duh best down heres!!
What cha talkin' bouts anywayz?
American schools are some of the finest in the world. There are unethical people in every profession. Find them and get rid of them.
Good thing you added "some". Last time I remember reading about American education, it was falling woefully short of our European colleagues and their educational systems.
Another reason why the Department of 'Indoctrination', er, Education should be disbanded or, at least, defunded.
Jimma' Carter's legacy of stupidity lives on in our dysfunctional 'indoctrination' system.
A black female superintendent in a northern Indiana school system addressed the student body. She began by welcoming the 'freshmens'. This woman easily rakes in six figures, drives a mercedes and can't speak the English language. The students recognized it and there was an audible gasp in the auditorium. Tell me this cheating and dumbing down of subject matter isn't rampant. And...by the way, it certainly isn't limited to 'the South'. I could go on about thousands of other similar incidents. Sickening and time for it to stop. Political correctness is ruining our country. Universities must put a halt to handing out diplomas on the basis of being black and female. It's giving all those truly accomplished black females a real bad rap.
there you go folks another stupid raciest with a computer time to make buying a computer like buying a gun you should have to take a frickin test
Wow, did a black female break your little heart? You are pathetic and probably have some underlying issues with your little peepee. It's nice to know that only black females, such as myself, are the problem with this country. You really need some help dude.