Test pressure didn’t create the CRCT cheating scandal
The numbers were good — too good. They kept rising, beggaring belief. The people who should have questioned them, should have inquired as to how those producing the numbers kept moving from strength to strength, instead got caught up in celebrating them, even taking credit for them.
The numbers were good — too good to be true.
Enron? Major League Baseball?
Atlanta Public Schools?
Let’s stipulate that the state’s review of dodgy CRCT results, prompted by an earlier AJC investigative series, does not on its own explain exactly what happened in Atlanta’s schools during last year’s standardized tests. The state’s analysis of erasure marks on student test sheets does not reveal who did, or knew, or ignored what. For that reason, Gov. Sonny Perdue and his staff have been wisely patient in waiting for the rest of the facts to come to light.
But let’s also acknowledge that cheating occurred. Barring some anti-APS conspiracy by the state, no innocent explanation suffices for a system whose schools were vastly overrepresented among the suspicious.
Surely, there are many innocent teachers and administrators — just as the majority of major leaguers didn’t take steroids, and only a handful of executives cooked the books.
Still, the alternate explanations from Superintendent Beverly Hall don’t cut it. The idea that Atlanta students are just really diligent about double-checking their test answers (and just happen to get dozens of questions right the second time around) doesn’t pass the laugh test any more than Barry Bonds insisting he was just a vitamin-popping gym rat.
When the next phase of investigation ends and — let’s hope — we learn more about how the cheating took place, some people will rationalize it as the inevitable result of an emphasis on testing.
That rationalization isn’t laughable, it’s abominable.
Start with the fact that some of the people who will take this broad-brush swipe at educators’ integrity are the same ones now bemoaning an unfair rush to judgment following the state’s CRCT inquiry.
Plenty of teachers and administrators in plenty of school districts faced the pressure to perform without cheating. Of the state’s 188 districts, 175 managed to avoid having a single school on the “severe concern” list that ensnared three-fifths of APS elementary and middle schools. Statewide, 80 percent of the schools under review were deemed in the clear.
So, clearly, cheating is not a reflexive reaction to pressure. We ought to be gravely concerned about any leader who would suggest that it is.
That’s particularly true for anyone who works with children and teenagers. If schools are not equipping students to face this kind of pressure, they will be even worse off as adults than we thought.
We can’t simply trust people to do the right thing, but we can verify it. For too long, we didn’t verify education results.
Now that we’ve begun to verify, the answer isn’t to de-emphasize tests. Baseball didn’t react to steroid use by playing down home runs, and Wall Street still measures earnings.
There’s one last commonality among APS, steroids in baseball and financial fraud.
Baseball players didn’t use steroids to be all-stars; they cheated to achieve the unprecedented: 66, 70, 73 home runs in a season. Enron didn’t cook the books to be merely profitable, but to reach soaring earnings and share prices.
And the scores of APS students didn’t just rise; they skyrocketed. Yet Atlantans didn’t demand that APS double its passing rates within a decade, only that it record steady, sustainable improvement.
Now, like fans and investors, we have to wonder whether we got even that.
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220 comments Add your comment
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
2:34 pm
LA Trashsmeesha – Sooner or later, the REAL Mrs. Godzilla
will probably trash YOU.
As I’ve said many times, I only use one handle – don’t need
multiple personalities the way you do.
Can’t deal with my comments, much ?
LA
February 18th, 2010
2:47 pm
“As I’ve said many times, I only use one handle – don’t need
multiple personalities the way you do. ”
Sure thing there, Mrs. Godzilla.
“Can’t deal with my comments, much ?”
Well, considering you don’t comment on anything but me. Seems to me that you are obsessed with me.
Horrible Horrace
February 18th, 2010
2:51 pm
All these bumbling fumbling dummycrats howl in desparation as they are being shown the door.
AHH HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!
Horrible Horrace
February 18th, 2010
2:56 pm
O-Dumb-dumb can fool the masses for only so long. Seeing him obama around like a fish out of water is most enjoyable. Listening to his grand speeches and knowing he has been neutered like a dog in the ditch is even better. St Pius Obama I is pretty much done.
AHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
3:01 pm
LA Trashsmeesha – If you disappeared tomorrow, no one would care.
That includes me.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
3:03 pm
I comment on a variety of topics. Some people
(like Mrs. Trashsmeesha Axelfraud) are just full
of themselves.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
3:04 pm
Ditto for Mrs. Horace.
LA
February 18th, 2010
3:06 pm
“If you disappeared tomorrow, no one would care. That includes me.”
Awe, some faceless buffoon of a blogger who calls herself dewstarpath doesn’t like me.
What ever will I do?
LA
February 18th, 2010
3:07 pm
“I comment on a variety of topics. Some people
(like Mrs. Trashsmeesha Axelfraud) are just full
of themselves.”
No you don’t. You just pop over here and trash talk. You’ve never commented on any of Kyle’s topics. You’re obsessed with me and everyone of your mindless comments prove it.
I’m full of myself?
I guess that’s better than being full of crap like you are.
LA
February 18th, 2010
3:08 pm
“Ditto for Mrs. Horace.”
LOL! Dupestar Mrs. Godzilla now copies me!
Whatever you say Mrs. Godzilla.
dewstarpath is really Mrs. Godzilla in drag
February 18th, 2010
3:09 pm
dewstarpath is Mrs. Godzilla in drag.
Churchill's MOM
February 18th, 2010
3:18 pm
Roger Webb 2:16 pm
If you are correct why do we spend money sending kids to school? Why not send the straight to the cotton field since they can only be “marginally” educated. Did you learn anything in school?
Horrible Horrace
February 18th, 2010
3:21 pm
The Dems are gonna be shown the door and the bottom of my foot come Nov 2010. AHH HAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!
“Dont cry for me little dummycrat, the truth is I never loved you…”
AHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!
Horrible Horrace
February 18th, 2010
3:40 pm
Night too all the crying, bed-wetting liberals. Dont forget to put a little talcum on those red fannys tonite.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
4:15 pm
LA – 3:06
If you weren’t such a childish buffoon, you would realize that
bloggers don’t have faces online. So you can go breast-feed yourself.
LA – 3:07
Liar. As ususal, you take everything you ever do online and blame it
on someone else. And then you blame all of it on “liberals”, or act
like a kid and cry that someone’s picking on you. You’re too pathetic,
foul-mouthed and racist for any one to be obsessed with (except other
members of the fringe right, LIKE YOU).
Your stupid attempt to try to berae someone only reveals your own
ignorance. Stick to bashing Obama, it’s the only thing you losers
know how to do.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
4:15 pm
CORRECTION: berate someone (typo).
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
4:24 pm
This anti-president, anti-government nonsense has gotten WAY out
of hand.
Now, anti-government extremists are imitating Al-Qaeda, flying planes
into government buildings.
Maybe that’s what they mean when they make threats about 2012.
I doubt any of them vote.
LA
February 18th, 2010
4:37 pm
“Liar. As ususal, you take everything you ever do online and blame it
on someone else.”
LOLOL!!!!! Hypocrite much?
“You’re too pathetic,
foul-mouthed and racist for any one to be obsessed with (except other
members of the fringe right, LIKE YOU). ”
Yet you can’t provide any foul-mouthed or racist comments that I’ve written.
“your stupid attempt to try to berae someone only reveals your own
ignorance. Stick to bashing Obama, it’s the only thing you losers
know how to do.”
And you can’t even spell. Who’s stupid? YOU ARE!
I don’t have to bash Obama. Democrats are doing that to him right now.
BYE BAYH!!!!!!!
JD
February 18th, 2010
4:38 pm
Here is a link to a video of an educator explaining the problems with public schools. She worked in the Education Department of the Reagan administration and has the resume’ to support her positions:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/18/how-education-is-deliberately-dumbing-you-down.aspx
The video is followed by a Jay Leno video of the “Jay Walk All-Stars”. So for your attention to the opinion of a learned lady you are rewarded with the humor from the “graduates” of public schools. No child left behind – indeed all were apparently left behind.
This is a bi-partisan problem, just as the deficits, spending, earmarks, high tax rates and ever-expanding government are also bi-partisan.
The US government under Obama is on a similar path to that of Greece, and if you do not know then you should study the problems in Greece where over 60% of the workers are government employees.
The earlier post promoting TARP and huge government spending as a solution to a recession is just nonsense. Lower taxes and drastic spending cuts are the answer. For instance the Departments of Energy and Education need to be shuttered, NOW!
Only business is able to turn around a recession by expanding and hiring. No government program has ever solved our debt or deficit problems, only an expanding economy in the private sector can save this country from ruin.
Those who blame Wall Street and Big Business are not aiming at the proper target. The problems all start in Congress where the crooks spend our money to make us think they are giving us something, line their pockets while in office, line the pockets of their friends (CAN ANYONE SAY OBAMA, UAW, GM AND CHRYSLER?) and all the while give speeches begging for bi-partisan solutions, openness and sevility but continue business as usual in the Administration and Congress.
RE-ELECT NOBODY!
LA
February 18th, 2010
4:39 pm
“This anti-president, anti-government nonsense has gotten WAY out
of hand. ”
LOL!!!!!! Yep, and for 8 years you creepy little liberals bashed Bush.
Payback sucks don’t it!
“Now, anti-government extremists are imitating Al-Qaeda, flying planes
into government buildings. ”
Yep, and the guy left a note blaming Bush. Yep, that’s TWO left wing terrorist attacks this week.
“Maybe that’s what they mean when they make threats about 2012.
I doubt any of them vote.”
Keep telling yourself that as you watch Obama exit the White House.
LA
February 18th, 2010
4:39 pm
JD
UH OH! Watch out or dupestartrash will call you a racist for opposing her messiah!
LA
February 18th, 2010
4:42 pm
Looks like the guy who crashed the plane into the IRS building was a communist.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0218102stack6.html
LA
February 18th, 2010
4:46 pm
Obama Concedes Stimulus Not Working as Jobless Claims Surge
The jobless got a hand. Taxpayers got tax breaks. And a sinking economy stabilized.
But the public’s response to President Barack Obama’s recession-fighting policies has been increasingly dreary. And the reason is simple: six months of unemployment above 9.6 percent.
“It doesn’t yet feel like much of a recovery,” Obama had to concede Wednesday, even as he sought to promote his year-old massive economic stimulus bill.
Unemployment trumps all else. It provides a lens through which the public reads an economic narrative of bank bailouts, executive bonuses, expensive health care remedies and exploding debt.
In that environment, gross domestic product growth is an abstraction. Obama gets little credit for an economic turnaround under his watch. And Republicans seek political advantage by merely asking, “Where are the jobs?”
This week, on the anniversary of the stimulus plan, the White House is seeking redress. Obama and the president’s political arm at the Democratic National Committee are casting the program — initially priced at $787 billion and now estimated at $862 billion — as a demonstrable success and its critics as hypocrites.
Eric
February 18th, 2010
4:59 pm
To Chief Wiggam and Mike,
To answer your question–I came through the Dekalb County School System in the late 1970s. There was only the SAT then, and I did okay, but not fantastic. The bar on the SAT has been raised every year, so if a student t is not performing well, but would have 15 years ago, what does this really mean? It’s means the SAT, CRCT and others are a moving target based on someone higher-up’s set of criteria. That’s why it’s an artificial measure. I have been successful through hard work mostly–without high test results. I also do not condone cheating, but understand why it can happen with so much at stake. Why go through all this? Thank you to “an Educator” for your follow up comment.
Dale
February 18th, 2010
5:15 pm
I may have missed it, as I have not yet read ALL of the posts since this morning, but did anyone answer the question as to why any local authority (teacher, administrator, etc) has the answers to the tests? My wife says the teachers would know the answers! My answer to that is, to paraphrase an old quote, some of them could not spell their own names if you spotted them two letters. I know many great teachers, but most of our local teachers are pathethic. I was recently in a restaurant and had to move to another table because of the abuse of the English language coming from the adjoining table. I later realized it was a group of teachers. Our “selected” new head of the system was ranked 34 out of 37 candidates, yet he is getting the job because of who he knows. His resume had at least five glowing spelling errors of the simplest words and he has zero K-12 grade education experience. That is why I will spend almost one quarter of a million to send my child to one of the local private schools, which also happens to be one of the toughest academic schools in the Southeast. I may not have a future retirement, but my child will get an education.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:21 pm
JD – Just ignore LA the Tea Party punk. If you go to the
AJC search engine and type in “David Axelfraud”,”Smashsmeesha
Bobeesha”, and “LA”, you’ll see a commonality in the rants –
it’s all the same idiot.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:23 pm
Only an idiot like LA would mistake a typo for not
being able to spell – even AFTER I spelled it correctly in the
CORRECTION.
Such is the actions of a delusional ultrasubjective clown.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:25 pm
LA – 4:39 PM – I wasn’t even talking to you, and you rant on
about another idiot who put innocent people’s lives at risk.
I guess you think they were “communists”, too. Loser.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:28 pm
LA’s definition of a communist = anyone who is anti-Bush 43.
What an Axeldoofus.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:32 pm
Dale (5:15 pm) – The reason that the teachers have the answers to the
CRCT tests – they all teach in the state of Georgia. Corruption is rampant.
Most of the constituents represented by the legislature are staunchly
against anything that is done at the national level. Just ask LA – she is
a product of that state’s school system.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:33 pm
“Unemployment trumps all else”. You should know.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:38 pm
“JD – Just ignore LA the Tea Party punk. If you go to the
AJC search engine and type in “David Axelfraud”,”Smashsmeesha
Bobeesha”, and “LA”, you’ll see a commonality in the rants –
it’s all the same idiot.”
Now who’s the hateful bigot? You claim that I name call etc but you’ve spent all day calling me names.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:39 pm
“Only an idiot like LA would mistake a typo for not
being able to spell – even AFTER I spelled it correctly in the
CORRECTION. ”
No, you misspelled it, ma’am.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:39 pm
When you are for nothing but tax cuts for the top 5% of wage earners
and a free-market, what do you wind up with? Bloggers who rant all
day with no prospects, bragging about getting kicked off websites,
and who see “communists” everywhere.
These losers need to stop warring with everyone online and find something
productive to do with themselves. Employers can check blogs to see who
is a potential ANFO bomber or workplace shooter.
neo-Carlinist
February 18th, 2010
5:39 pm
Churchill’s Mom, if I may be so bold, I think R Webb’s point is, a score on a standardized test is perhaps not the best way to gauge the academic progress of a student. And, like it or not, remember what Judge Shmales told Danny in Caddyshack; “…the world needs ditch diggers too…” the point is, why does the GA Department of Education and APS, et all, put so much emphasis on the CRCT? as confirmed, even “teaching the test” students is not likely to produce anything more than a blip on the radar. in my unscientific opinion, most children are “wired” to succeed or fail by the time they enter kindergarten. there are many factors in play (genetics, pre-K home and academic enviroments, diet, non-academic pastimes such as musical instruction, athletics, etc.). AND, once in school some have the benefit of dedicated, professional educators, while others are handicapped by ticket-punching bureaucrats who are only concerned with their own income/careers.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:39 pm
“LA – 4:39 PM – I wasn’t even talking to you, and you rant on
about another idiot who put innocent people’s lives at risk.
I guess you think they were “communists”, too. Loser.”
LOL!!!!! You really are a troglodyte.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:40 pm
“LA’s definition of a communist = anyone who is anti-Bush 43.
What an Axeldoofus.”
Nope, the guy quoted the communist manifesto, moron.
Illiterate much?
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:40 pm
““Unemployment trumps all else”. You should know.”
And yet, here you are.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:41 pm
“These losers need to stop warring with everyone online and find something
productive to do with themselves.”
Well, at least you admit to being a loser.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:42 pm
“Employers can check blogs to see who
is a potential ANFO bomber or workplace shooter.”
Yep, and McDonald’s is watching you right now. Get back to flipping burgers.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:44 pm
“LA’s definition of a communist = anyone who is anti-Bush 43.”
Well, liberals do love communism. Obama’s entire administration loves communism. His green czar admitted to being a communist.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:44 pm
“Now who’s the hateful bigot ?” YOU ARE.
“You claim that I name call etc. but you’ve spent all day
calling me names.” WAAAAH. LIAR. You and Horace got
called out because of the foul rants you put on everyone else –
not because I targeted you.
Name one time I name – called the President (Bush 43) or any
other blogger who didn’t throw insults. You need to show others
the same respect you want for yourself (like not calling people
you don’t know as MA’AM – don’t be an idiot.)
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:45 pm
“JD – Just ignore LA the Tea Party punk.”
LOL! Dupestartrash doesn’t even realize that JD doesn’t like Obama.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:46 pm
“Name one time I name – called the President (Bush 43) or any
other blogger who didn’t throw insults.”
Stupid much, dupestar?
“You need to show others
the same respect you want for yourself (like not calling people
you don’t know as MA’AM – don’t be an idiot.)”
LOLOL!!!!!! Coming from a little girl who first attacked me. Nice.
Stupid meet dupestar, dupestar meet stupid.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:47 pm
“Troglodyte” is only for losers like you who sit up all day playing
“World of Warcraft”.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:47 pm
“You and Horace got
called out because of the foul rants you put on everyone else –
not because I targeted you. ”
LOLOL!!!!!!!! Sounds like dupestar can’t handle the fact that the country hates democrats.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:48 pm
““Troglodyte” is only for losers like you who sit up all day playing
“World of Warcraft”.”
HAHAHAHAAH!!!!!! You don’t even know what the word means!!!!!!!!
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:48 pm
I didn’t first attack you – you’re just whining about getting attacked
again – as I knew you would.
LA
February 18th, 2010
5:48 pm
dewstarpath is an illiterate little girl.
dewstarpath
February 18th, 2010
5:49 pm
You don’t know the meaning of most words. You’re probably
about to have a heart attack trying to spell correctly.