Report says high school ‘failing its students’
Grand jury rules that Castlemont awarding undeserved diplomas
A civil grand jury report found that Castlemont High School educators misused a grading system in order to pass students who didn’t qualify and misled the public about it.
“This school and the district that runs it are failing its students. There is no excuse for awarding a high school diploma to those who do not earn it,” the Alameda County civil grand jury report stated.
In 2019, allegations came to light that administrators manipulated grades and graduation requirements on an online system called Apex in order to pass otherwise failing students. After the district did its own investigation, it found no evidence of any wrongdoing.
Apex is a credit recovery program used to offer struggling students an online alternative to completing required work, according to the district.
But in the grand jury report released Monday, the investigation found that the district’s conclusion of no wrongdoing was “arguably misleading” and “incomplete.” The jury said that even though the district’s investigation found poor practices, a misuse of the online program by teachers, inadequate training and insufficient monitoring, it didn’t relay any of this information to the public.
The allegations were made public when two whistleblower teachers reached out to the media, saying they had issued failing grades to students, but the program had reissued passing grades after the fact.
Besides misleading the public about the district’s “severe academic and ethical breakdowns that occurred at the school,” findings also concluded that it was the district’s weak internal policies, inadequate training and lack of oversight that enabled Castlemont teachers to “run roughshod” over academic integrity and best practices.
The report details several instances of questionable practices by teachers, such as sitting with a student as they took an exam, going through each question with them and encouraging them to use their phone to look up what they didn’t understand.
Evidence from the investigation also found students passing these required classes while only logging minimal time on the online platform. For example, one student spent 24 total minutes on a semester of English course, completing 41 quizzes and a final exam. That final exam was finished in 92 seconds, the investigation found. Despite an overall score of 52% (or an F letter grade), the teacher gave the student a final grade of C.
Last year in an interview, district spokesman John Sasaki said the system logs how much time students spend on it. Though it may seem like some students are only spending a few hours a semester on Apex while getting a passing grade, in reality they are doing the lessons in class face-to-face with a teacher and only using the system to take tests, he said.
Last year, the district said it would update its guidelines on how to use the Apex system and retrain teachers.
High truancy rates at the school also made it impossible for absent students to receive the required educational experience, the grand jury found. Also, students that aren’t prepared for high school level work are being promoted in earlier grades, despite not having met requirements.
In its conclusion, the jury found that the practice of promoting failing students “deprives” students of the education that they deserve, cheapens the accomplishments of students who do work hard at Castlemont and deprives the city and county of an educated and productive workforce.
“It compromises academic equity, undermines a fair system of scholastic evaluation, produces a disincentive for intellectual honesty and undermines the civic fabric of Oakland. It is profoundly unfair to most students who work hard to qualify for a high school diploma,” the report says.
In its list of recommendations, the grand jury says that the district needs to develop policies and practices for make-up work, implement controls on the Apex system such as limiting the courses students can take at once, and regulate teacher discretion in assigning grades on Apex.
The jury also recommends “robust procedures to track and control excessive student absences” and not allowing students who are chronically absent and fail courses to graduate until the courses are properly passed.
District spokesman Sasaki said Monday that the district is still reviewing the jury’s report and will respond within 90 days as required. He pointed out some inaccuracies in the report, such as a decrease in Castlemont’s graduation rate the year in question, when the grand jury reported an increase.
Sasaki said in the district has already been made changes to the Apex policies and since the investigation, Castlemont has not been allowed to use it until the staff is retrained.
“We look forward to further strengthening the process through which our students access and learn from the Apex system, to make sure they are getting the most of their education no matter how they access it. Castlemont High School serves some of the highest-needs students in Oakland, and we are committed to better supporting our most vulnerable student populations so they are well prepared for college, career and community success,” Sasaki said in a statement.