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.
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Tags: accountability, Atlanta Public Schools, cheating, erasures, investigation, Public Policy, Testing
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. 
An investigation of Atlanta Public Schools has uncovered such widespread cheating on state tests that writers of the 428-page report ran out of synonyms for cheating. Some 44 schools and 178 educators were named in the probe, with teachers now facing termination and doubt spreading about impressive gains in student achievement that helped the former superintendent become 2009 superintendent of the year.
Finland enjoys a surprising claim to fame: world-class K-12 education. Only a handful of nations come close to matching Finland in math, science, and literacy, and none boasts such uniformly high achievement rates across regions and income levels. How could the country produce 15-year-olds on par with Asia’s whiz kids? The answer may reside in teacher training and approach.
In response to cheating, many states and school districts are tightening test security, USA Today reports. Texas distributes 14 steps staff must follow during test administration and warns that state investigators will ferret out cheaters. In other places, educators are experimenting with different ways to test what kids learn. 
With the stakes for educators growing ever higher — and the majority of American schools somewhere on 
Scores released January 25 from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress show that many U.S. students still struggle in science. Just 34 percent of fourth graders, 30 percent of eighth graders, and 21 percent of 12th graders are performing at or above ‘proficient’ – with just a tiny fraction displaying the advanced skills that could lead to careers in science and technology. 
Nationwide, the number of students taking AP tests has surged 50 percent in the last five years. For those who hope to attend selective colleges, it’s the norm. But when a Harrisburg, Pa.-area school district sought to introduce an AP course in ninth grade, some parents balked. 
Shanghai 15-year-olds scored No. 1 in a major international math, science and reading test, beating students in dozens of countries, and did particularly well in math. American students placed “in the middle of the pack,” says an Education Department official. 
