Atlanta Teacher Cheating Scandal

"Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal revealed on Tuesday that 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta school district have been accused of gaming test scores, casting a shadow over recent gains claimed by the city’s public schools. Eighty-two of the 178 educators have already confessed."

https://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/07/06/atlanta-teacher-cheating-scandal-may-be-largest-ever/

"An 800-page report released Tuesday to The Associated Press by Gov. Nathan Deal's office through an open records request shows several educators reported cheating in their schools. But the report says Hall, who won the national Superintendent of the Year award in 2009, and other administrators ignored those reports and sometimes retaliated against the whistleblowers.

The yearlong investigation shows educators at nearly four dozen Atlanta elementary and middle schools cheated on standardized tests by helping students or changing the answers once exams were handed in.

The investigators also found a "culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation" in the school district over the cheating allegations, which led to educators lying about the cheating or destroying documents to cover it up, according to the report. School officials had "warnings" as early as 2005 that there was cheating on standardized tests, but those signals were ignored, according to the report.

At one elementary school, four educators gathered at a colleague's home in Douglas County one weekend to have a "changing party" using answer sheets provided by a school official, the report states."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=14005801




I cannot believe this. I'm in utter shock. I mean... it's just crazy. I don't think I have any words.

You should not be shocjed at what the teachers are doing. Since the Washibgton standardised tests a MINORITY of teachers are striving any way they can to grade upwards. And in too many cases their administrators are not noticing it. This all started when the teachers unions were formed and the power finally rested with the UNION leadership. No longer with the local school board.My book explains it!

Wrong. It all started with the teaching to be testing of no child left behind. It punishes the teachers & schools that don't meet standards and is not a one size fits all solution.
Every school/ every district has it on set of issues to deal with. No child left behind is bad law.
Now don't take this as sanctifying cheating- I do not. But it certainly built this up to the point where it is otherwise impossible in some cases. This leaves the students & the parents out of the loop and puts the mainly unearned blame entirely on our educators.
Sad.

Something tells me Atlanta's teachers aren't the only ones guilty of this. It's a casualty of the extremely heavy focus on, and penalties therein of, standardized testing of core subjects.

No offense, WASH, as you bring up good points in other topics, but it is clear to me that you have no clue on the dynamics of the education profession.

when leadership goes bad, bad s*** happens.
i know a small town kids got to redo some tests.
top rated schools.

I agree!
The standards must be set for the student (not by the teacher)
BEFORE HE EVEN ENTERS THE CLASSROOM! HIS pattern of behavior and HIS
approach to learning must be laid out and strictly followed. Well?
PARENTS ARE KEY FOR BETTER SCHOOLS, Sentinel 960324: Of
course! This is a truism and is not negotiable.

This could never have happened IF tne school rules I documented way back had been adopted. BUT the AFT, CTA, and other teacher afilkiates and unions ressisted them.

Please enlighten us?


Damn, why did I ask?

True! But you asked. Back in the 70s when my kids were in school

WHAT WOULD I DO?
Start with the schools! With the teacher as the (ACTIVE) authority figure I would then:

1, ESTABLISH A CLOSED CAMPUS --Except as authorized
a, To non students coming on campus
b, To students leaving campus.
c, Encourage student participation to carry out program.

2, INITIATE A DRESS CODE
a, Acceptable to community norms.
b, Not a distraction to others.
c, Prepare now for radical changes in youth dress.
3, ENFORCE THE "NO SMOKING" ON CAMPUS RULES
A, Still a law preventing minors from buying.
b, Verified threat to personal health.
c, Imposition on others rights and health.
d, Stump to remove State permissive smoking laws.

4, ASSSURE DISCIPLINE IN CLASSROOMS
a, Establish a code of conduct for initial publication
and later follow-up verbal communication to students.
Base it on respect, courtesy, and tolerance.
b, Prepare a form letter to be delivered to all
parents to determine the extent of disciplinary action
€ they would permit to correct their childs actual
digressive behavioral attitude - as opposed to accepted
community norms.
c, Encourage students to take pride in constructive
personal behavior.

5, EXTEND RESPONSIBILITY ON AND OFF CAMPUS
A, To peer groups.
b, To school authority.
c, To the community.
d, INITIATE ACTION TO VOID STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS
PERTAINING TO YOUTH. RETURN THAT RESPONSIBILITY TO THE
COMMUNITY.

Most all of those are already part of school.

Please VISIT your local schools and note their compliance to those rules!

I visit regularly, I still have two in public schools (two in college) plus my wife teaches.
The parents are generally MIA and when called to the school jump on the admin & teachers and side with the child.

The more I find out about the school system in Atlanta, the more shocked I get.

"Two years ago, the son of Pritam and Priya Chandani tripped over a mound of snow and injured his head and leg. Instead of helping the student, teachers allegedly told him to crawl back to his classroom, claims a lawsuit filed Tuesday according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

According to the Times, the Chadanis claim their son was first instructed to cross a mound of snow on the Devonshire Elementary School playground Jan. 3, 2010. After informing the teachers he had been injured and couldn't walk, the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court then alleges that his teachers told him to craw through the snow and back to the school. "


"The incident comes after Damion Robinson, a 2nd grader at R. J. Hoyland Elementary School in Texas, was told by school officials to walk home across a freeway.

According to KPRC, a woman stopped Robinson when he was close to his neighborhood and called his mother.

In July, a report that implicated more than 180 Atlanta teachers for dishonest testing practices pointed out that one teacher at the Fain Elementary School in Atlanta, Ga., was forced to crawl under a table at a faculty meeting because her students' test scores were low, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The incident at Fain Elementary exemplifies findings from the Atlanta cheating scandal investigation, which concluded that a high-stakes, high-pressure environment that emphasized test scores as part of a teacher pay scheme led educators to extreme measures and fueled a culture of cheating, fear and intimidation. Many have pointed the finger at then-Atlanta superintendent Beverly Hall, blaming her for fostering that culture and shaming teachers who do not produce the desired results. Hall has repeatedly denied those allegations. "

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/teachers-allegedly-tell-student-to-crawl-back-to-school-after-injury_n_1184323.html?ref=education&icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D125218