Jennifer Smith Richards is an education reporter at The Columbus Dispatch. She's covered schools and education for more than a decade at newspapers in Huntington, W.Va.; Utica, N.Y.; Savannah, Ga.; and Columbus. Jennifer's work is focused on statewide accountability, school choice issues and teaching and learning in Columbus City Schools. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University. Richards’ recent investigative work uncovered a scandal where the Columbus School District Columbus City Schools employees — and perhaps others in schools throughout the state — are accused of falsifying students’ records to improve their schools’ standing on state report cards. She did this using data bases and tables. Email: jsmithrichards@dispatch.com Twitter: @jsmithrichards