Oxford High School math teacher Matthew Race resigned May 8 after it was discovered that he, according to district officials, was aware of an unacceptable technological aid used by some of his students during their Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics exam last year and almost this year.
‘Matt decided to resign and it was, I would say, in his best interest, as well as the district’s best interest, that he (did) so,? said Superintendent Dr. William Skilling. ‘The district was at risk of losing the ability to have AP exams and so we had to address that issue.?
Attempts to reach Race for comment were unsuccessful.
Apparently, there were students in the AP Statistics class who had a custom-made computer program installed on their graphing calculators.
‘It was a program that was added to their calculators,? Skilling said. ‘It was a program written to assist students on the exam.?
The district learned about the program after some parents approached OHS Principal Mike Schweig the day before this year’s AP Statistics exam and told him ‘their students were concerned about using this program.?
‘They didn’t think it was right to use (it),? Skilling said.
When asked what the program does specifically, how it aided students, Skilling replied, ‘I don’t know the details of that.?
As for where the program came from, Skilling didn’t have many details on that either.
‘I believe someone created it. I don’t know who, but my understanding is somebody created the program. I’m not sure who it was. It was not a teacher, I do know that.?
One thing’s for sure, the program’s use on the AP exam is not permitted.
‘We had to report it to the College Board (which establishes and enforces the rules governing AP exams),? Skilling said. ‘The College board says it’s not acceptable to use on an exam.?
‘When you take (AP) exams, there’s strict rules about what can be used, what can’t be used, how they’re proctored. It’s like doing an ACT test,? he explained.
Skilling indicated this program was used by some students during last year’s AP Statistics exam.
‘We don’t know necessarily if it was all, but we do know some did (use it),? he said.
However, it was not used on this year’s test, which is good because ‘all the kids? exams would have been voided,? according to Skilling.
‘We caught it just in time. Thank goodness because if it was the next day we caught it or something like that, it would have been a terrible tragedy for the kids this year.?
Last year’s AP Statistics students are not in danger of having their exam results voided because the district was honest about the situation with the College Board.
‘They’re going to let it go because the district did the right thing by calling and letting them know. We self-reported,? Skilling said. ‘It’s a combination of that (and) the fact that it’s been a year.?
The elapsed time makes it too difficult to determine which students used the program last year and which did not.
Skilling indicated Race, who’s taught with the district since August 2007, ‘had knowledge of the program,? but the superintendent does not think ‘he intended for any impropriety.?
‘I think this has a lot to do with judgement,? Skilling explained. ‘Let me state it this way ? I think that somebody who teaches an AP class and who’s trained to teach an AP class ought to know that you can’t go beyond, in terms of help-aids, what is already stated that a student can use. You shouldn’t make assumptions. You shouldn’t say this is OK or not OK when it hasn’t been spelled out to be OK. The parameters are really tight.?
‘To assume, that you can go ahead and add something that’s not already stated as permissible is really poor judgement,? Skilling noted. ‘People in their careers, regardless of what it is, at times, they make mistakes. Sometimes a mistake has more severe consequences than other times. That’s how I would view this.?
Skilling respected the fact that Race ‘wanted to do what was right once this all unfolded,? even though it meant his resignation.
‘We had to, as a district, have somebody else teaching AP Statistics or we couldn’t offer it anymore,? he said
Despite this incident, Skilling praised Race’s performance as a teacher.
‘Personally, I think highly of Mr. Race,? he said. ‘He has been a tremendous asset to the district for the time that he’s been here. He was an extremely dedicated employee. He went above and beyond in helping kids both in the classroom and outside the classroom.?
‘I think he deserves another opportunity some place else,? Skilling added. ‘I want to support him in any new initiatives that he may have, whatever that may be.?
Student support for Race was very high as evidenced by a page on Facebook.com.
Dubbed ‘Come Back Mr. Race,? the Facebook group has 228 members and the page features 28 messages from students, all in support of Race.