Atlanta+Public+Schools+cheating+scandal

The Atlanta Public Schools system suffered rampant cheating on state-mandated tests – not by students but by teachers and principals who inflated test scores and changed answers on tests children handed in. 178 teachers and principals in 44 schools have been implicated. The cheating is thought to have been prompted by the fact that the educators involved were assessed and rewarded on the basis of how their students do on such tests. And it wasn’t just cheating – a culture developed which rewarded cheating and punished people who did not want to cooperate or who complained that the behavior was inappropriate. The Atlanta Journal Constitution says:

“Atlanta’s school cheating scandal, one of the largest inU.S. history, has launched a national discussion about whether the increaseduse of high-stakes tests to rate educators will trigger similar episodes in theyears ahead.

“Pressure to meet testing targets was a major reasoncheating took place in 44 Atlanta schools involving 178 educators, according toa state investigation released last week.”

I don’t think the AJC has this right – it wasn’t “pressureto meet testing targets” that caused these educators to cheat. It was dishonesty. Most teachers feel pressure to meet testing targets – but they don't all cheat. If this scandal leads politicians to retreat instead of pressing on with teacher performance evaluations and state-wide testing, that will send a very unfortunate message to the education industry about how to stave off new accountability initiatives: create a scandal and the accountability pressure will be dropped.