The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has launched an investigation into spring 2026 test results at dozens of schools across the state.
The investigation was sparked by Columbus City Schools self-reported testing anomalies at Independence and Walnut Ridge High Schools in early July.
Newark City School's Hillview Elementary School is one of the schools being investigated.
In a statement, Newark City Schools said the district noticed the testing anomalies at Hillview in the spring and began an internal investigation, then hired a third-party investigator. That investigation concluded this summer and the findings were sent to ODEW, the statement said.
Newark City Schools said it will cooperate fully throughout ODEW's investigation.
Eight private or charter schools in Franklin County are also on the list:
- Columbus Performance Academy
- Columbus Preparatory and Fitness Academy
- Focus Learning Academy of Central Columbus
- Northland Preparatory and Fitness Academy
- Performance Academy Eastland
- Renaissance Academy / Bessie Sherrod Price Preparatory Academy
- South Scioto Academy
- Whitehall Preparatory Academy
A letter from the ODEW to Whitehall Preparatory Academy that was shared with WOSU explains that tests were flagged for a number of reasons, including if students had abnormally fast or abnormally slow response times.
Tests were also considered anomalous if answers were changed from wrong to right at significantly higher rates than the average, or if a student did significantly better on the test compared to the year before.
The investigation also looked at whether students were performing as expected. If a student who had a history of performing badly on tests got hard questions correct but answered easy questions wrong, the test was treated as suspicious.
Similar letters were sent to the other schools under investigation. They're required to respond to an ODEW request for more information by Sept. 18.
