Students at Cesar Chavez Academy in Pueblo were given extra time to take state tests at an “extreme rate” for three years, a testing audit done for the Colorado Department of Education showed.

State Education Commissioner Dwight Jones said there was no justification for giving so many students extra time on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) tests and the state will require the K-8 charter school to implement new procedures for administering the annual tests.

The auditors found that 86.9 percent of fifth grade CCA students were given extra time on the math CSAP. Statewide, only 4.8 percent of fifth-graders were given extra time.

The audit, conducted by Caveon Test Security, found no evidence of answer sheet tampering, test coaching or unexpectedly high scores at the school. It also found no irregularities in testing procedures for Dolores Huerta Preparatory Academy, a charter high school that is part of the Cesar Chavez Network.

The network has been in tumult in recent months, and a Colorado Springs school and an online academy severed contracts with the network. When questions about finances, executive salaries and testing procedures arose last summer, the CDE ordered testing and financial audits.

The testing audit results were released Monday by CDE, and officials there said they expect to soon announce a contract for the financial audit.

Caveon Audit Links:• Cover Letter• Caveon Cesar Chavez Test Security (Powerpoint)• Caveon Cesar Chavez Test Security (PDF)

This photo provided by the Department of Defense shows U.S. Defense U.S. Secretary Robert Gates, center, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke Tuesday at the presidential palace in Kabul. Photo by The Associated Press

Master Sgt Jerry Morrison