Systematic Cheating Is Found in Atlanta Public Schools

How very sad.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution has been covering the Governor’s report over the last two days with front page articles that cover nearly the whole page.  Colleagues who work with Atlanta Public Schools (APS) had suggested to me that the obsessive focus on test scores might be behind the general unwillingness of APS to work with us on Georgia Computes! and Operation:Reboot.  I didn’t really understand that — why would concern over test scores prevent a district from accepting free professional development for teachers and even free former-IT workers as computing teachers?  It’s more understandable in light of the report.  The concerns over test scores changed the whole culture of the school district.  So sad for Beverly Hall, former superintendent of APS, who is being blamed for much of the culture change.

A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in the district, which led to a conspiracy of silence, he said in a prepared statement. “There will be consequences,” Mr. Deal said.That will certainly include dismissals, according to school board members and the interim superintendent, Erroll B. Davis Jr., and could possibly result in criminal charges.

via Systematic Cheating Is Found in Atlanta’s School System – NYTimes.com.