Monica Yant Kinney: Whistle-blowing principal reflects on what happens when schools cheat

By Monica Yant Kinney Inquirer Columnist I had flashbacks over the weekend reading about the mysterious, miraculous test-score gains at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in East Germantown. As reported by my colleagues Kristen Graham and Dylan Purcell, Roosevelt - a persistently dangerous school where nearly nine in 10 students dwell in poverty and a fourth receive special-ed services - jumped an astonishing 52 points in math and 51 points in reading on the critically important statewide assessments known as the PSSAs. The stunning two-year turnaround bested all comparable Philadelphia public schools and earned Roosevelt's principal gold stars from Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and then-Gov....