Exploring the Root Causes of Atlanta Public Schools’ Cheating Scandal
Submitted by Billy Corriher on August 1, 2011 – 8:30 am2 Comments
The Atlanta Public Schools (APS) system has been rocked by a cheating scandal involving 178 teachers and administrators. A report from the state of Georgia found cheating on standardized tests at 44 schools. Teachers held weekend “erasure” parties, during which they changed students’ answers. The state concluded that the system kept the cheating under wraps through “a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation.”
The report says the primary cause was “the pressure to meet targets in the data-driven environment.” The state found that cheating began in 2002, when the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) were imposed. Some commenters also blamed our increasing reliance on standardized tests to