Atlanta Educators Fired for Cheating
Posted on October 15th, 2011 by Mary Lord
A Georgia state commission voted to revoke the licenses of eight Atlanta Public Schools teachers and three administrators, imposing the first sanctions in one of the nation’s largest test cheating scandals. The decision stems from a state investigation, released in July, that revealed high numbers of wrong-to-right erasures in nearly half of the district’s 100 schools dating as far back as 2001.
Filed under: K-12 Education News | Comments Off on Atlanta Educators Fired for Cheating
Tags: accountability, Atlanta Public Schools, cheating, erasures, investigation, Public Policy, Testing
The National Research Council’s framework for common state science standards, released in July, won perfect marks for “content and rigor” in a new report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. However, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank bestowed a B+ on the “impressive document” because its strong content is “immersed in much else that could distract, confuse, and disrupt” the priorities of a high quality STEM education for all children.
Move aside, cute kitties and other viral video hits. A new NASA contest could turn science into the next YouTube sensation. Space Lab, the competition announced by YouTube and computer manufacturer Lenovo on Monday, offers students the chance to make video pitches for experiments to perform in the International Space Station’s zero-gravity environment. 
Despite decades of steadily climbing college enrollment rates, the percentage of students earning a degree or certificate on time has barely budged, a new study reveals. By including older and part-time students, the Complete College America report paints a more comprehensive picture of the gap between college aspirations and outcomes than federal data typically has captured. 
After months of negotiations, the Senate education committee will take up a comprehensive bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The markup is scheduled for Oct. 18. Meanwhile, the House has broken the reauthorization bill into bite-sized pieces and is expected to deal with the big issues of accountability and teacher quality this fall. 
Just as they led the development of Common Core literacy and math standards, 20 states now are heading up a nationwide effort to improve K-12 STEM education by creating robust new “next generation” science and engineering standards.
Flanked by students, teachers, state education leaders, aPresident Barack Obama announced a plan to let states and districts waive some of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law’s most onerous requirements. In exchange, however, states would have to adopt certain reforms — including teacher evaluations that take student test scores into account.
In a Sept. 12 Capitol Hill bid for increased federal funding, a panel of representatives from industry and non-profits mapped out their goals for the future of afterschool, informal education in the U.S. Among them, an enthusiastic Fernando Laguarda of Time Warner Cable explained the company’s programs and efforts, while also outlining the daunting tasks that lie ahead in a time of increasing budget constraints.
SAT math scores for the Class of 2011 dropped a point nationally this year and have barely budged for a decade. Reading scores, meanwhile, fell three points this year and have dropped 33 points from 1972 levels. The College Board says the growing number of test takers includes many who are less prepared for college or learning English as a second language. 
