Someone is cheating the children who attend schools in Atlanta, Georgia.
The important question is Who? And why?
If we only blame the teachers, that is just a piece of the puzzle. I don't know if teachers were given an opportunity to really teach the courses as opposed to teaching to the test. Several teachers reported improprieties with the testing and were ignored, transferred, or contracts were not renewed. This sent a strong message to other teachers. Keep your mouth shut. It was reported by some teachers to be similar to the Mafia.
It's not as simple as bad teachers-because those who had the power to hire and fire were in on the cheating. And the Mayor of Atlanta, who is so vocal now about his outrage at the cheating, was perhaps inadvertently part of this sad drama in his role as a State Senator in Georgia. He introduced a bill that gave the Superintendent of Atlanta Public School system ALL power over the school board. So when the school board was hearing stories about cheating, and tried to make appropriate inquiries, they were SHUT DOWN by the Superintendent.
This story is SO much bigger than it looks. There are some questions as to whether due process was followed. If it was not, anything that the GBI claims to have been told will not be admissable in court. The teachers are now getting lawyers and are being properly advised of their Fifth Amendment rights.
This is a nationwide story. It is happening all over. And it will not go quietly into that good night.
And what about the geniuses who put so much weight on the importance of the CRCT test that teachers felt forced to teach to the test? Principals played a part in the cheating. And area superintendents apparently also knew about it. As bad as it is, the teachers and others who cheated are a small percentage of all the teachers in the Atlanta public school system. And it is not just Atlanta, as the graph below shows. The net is widening to some of the suburban areas now. Greed, fear, and ignorance knows no color.
Schools with questionable CRCT results
By Heather Vogell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Scores climbed or dipped dramatically at 12 schools in Atlanta and one in Fulton County. The AJC compared each class’ score in 2008 with its score in 2009, in the next grade.
Standard deviation shows how unexpected a score change is. The odds of a 4 standard deviation change are less than 1 in 31,000. The odds of a five standard deviation change are less than 1 in 3 million. The odds of a six standard deviation change are less than 1 in a billion.
Standard deviations Odds it could occur naturally
4 1 in 31,000
5 1 in 3 million
6 1 in a billion
Atlanta Public Schools
Benteen Elementary, Grade 3 Reading, 5.46 (better than predicted score)
Benteen Elementary, Grade 5 English/Language Arts, 4.3 (better than predicted score)
Bethune Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.57 (worse than predicted score)
Blalock Elementary, Grade 5 English/Language Arts, 6.94 (better than predicted score)
Blalock Elementary, Grade 5 Math, 5.95 (better than predicted score)
Blalock Elementary, Grade 3 English/Language Arts, 5.78 (better than predicted score)
Blalock Elementary, Grade 4 English/Language Arts, 4.05 (better than predicted score)
Capitol View Elementary, Grade 3 Reading, 5.78 (better than predicted score)
Dunbar Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.54 (better than predicted score)
F.L. Stanton Elementary, Grade 3 Reading, 4.27 (better than predicted score)
Perkerson Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 5.56 (better than predicted score)
Peyton Forest Elementary, Grade 4 Math, 6.08 (better than predicted score)
Peyton Forest Elementary, Grade 4 English/Language Arts, 4.79 (better than predicted score)
Peyton Forest Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.09 (better than predicted score)
Toomer Elementary, Grade 5 English/Language Arts, 9.29 (worse than predicted score)
Toomer Elementary, Grade 4 Reading, 6.35 (worse than predicted score)
Toomer Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 5.45 (worse than predicted score)
Usher Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.56 (better than predicted score)
Venetian Hills Elementary, Grade 3 English/Language Arts, 4.83 (better than predicted score)
Venetian Hills Elementary, Grade 3 Reading, 4.74 (better than predicted score)
West Manor Elementary, Grade 5 Math, 6.17 (better than predicted score)
Carroll County
Whitesburg Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.47 (better than predicted score)
Dougherty County
West Town Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 4.18 (better than predicted score)
Fulton County
Heards Ferry Elementary, Grade 3 English/Language Arts, 4.00 (better than predicted score)
Mitchell County
Baconton Community Charter, Grade 4 Math, 4.17 (better than predicted score)
Muscogee County
Muscogee Elementary, Grade 3 English/Language Arts, 4.26 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 5 Reading, 6.0 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 4 English/Language Arts, 5.36 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 5 Math, 5.33 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 4 Math, 5.31 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 4 Reading, 4.39 (worse than predicted score)
Rigdon Road Elementary, Grade 5 English/Language Arts, 4.13 (worse than predicted score)
Tift County
Omega Elementary, Grade 4 Reading, 4.58 (better than predicted score)
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/news/schools-with-questionable-crct-164807.html
Other smoking guns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_4hwkvbpU
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2011/07/12/former-atlanta-school-board-chair-khaatim-el-resigns/
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/04/20/deal-signs-bill-allowing-him-to-oust-aps-board-members/
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2011/jul/13/ralph-long/georgia-pol-says-atlanta-school-board-had-no-overs/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/nathan-deal-ethics-report_n_517493.html
You decide.
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