No Child Left Behind (Because Teachers Changed Their Wrong Answers)
Michael Winerip writes on The New York Times about the ex-Atlanta schools chief, then-superintendent Beverly L. Hall, being charged in a massive cheating scandal. It started with Georgia state investigator Richard Hyde getting an elementary school teacher, Jackie Parks, to become Witness No. 1:
Ms. Parks admitted to Mr. Hyde that she was one of seven teachers -- nicknamed "the chosen" -- who sat in a locked windowless room every afternoon during the week of state testing, raising students' scores by erasing wrong answers and making them right. She then agreed to wear a hidden electronic wire to school, and for weeks she secretly recorded the conversations of her fellow teachers for Mr. Hyde.In the two and a half years since, the state's investigation reached from Ms. Parks's third-grade classroom all the way to the district superintendent at the time, Beverly L. Hall, who was one of 35 Atlanta educators indicted Friday by a Fulton County grand jury.
Dr. Hall, who retired in 2011, was charged with racketeering, theft, influencing witnesses, conspiracy and making false statements. Prosecutors recommended a $7.5 million bond for her; she could face up to 45 years in prison.
During the decade she led the district of 52,000 children, many of them poor and African-American, Atlanta students often outperformed wealthier suburban districts on state tests.
Those test scores brought her fame -- in 2009, the American Association of School Administrators named her superintendent of the year and Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, hosted her at the White House.
And fortune -- she earned more than $500,000 in performance bonuses while superintendent.
On Friday, prosecutors essentially said it really was too good to be true. Dr. Hall and the 34 teachers, principals and administrators "conspired to either cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistle-blowers in an effort to bolster C.R.C.T. scores for the benefit of financial rewards associated with high test scores," the indictment said, referring to the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
Jay Rosen, through whom I saw the link, tweeted this:
@jayrosen_nyu
Unless you're a teacher or a parent of school age kids, you have no idea how insane the test score regime is. http://nyti.ms/Ymw4yu Insane.
And how many illiterates did the district graduate?
Jim P. at March 30, 2013 8:45 AM
I know it doesn't work the exact same everywhere, but my elementary school used those test scores to determine who could be in gifted classes, and who needed remedial classes.
Obviously, the kids who needed help weren't going to get it, but I'm wondering about the other end; how many kids were truly above par, and weren't able to excel further because the increased scores by cheating put them solidly in the middle, or only slightly above average?
Jazzhands at March 30, 2013 9:15 AM
This also happened in Waterbury, CT a couple of years ago. The principal got fired, and so did a few teachers, if I remember correctly.
Shame.
Flynne at March 30, 2013 9:19 AM
Maybe. . .just maybe . . .financial incentives aren't the best way to improve schools.
Good test scores = state/federal dollars.
Giving any particular school more money doesn't necessarily mean that the school will do better. And it certainly does nothing for the students of the schools that don't do well.
It's not a zero sum game because public schools don't actually compete with each other. They are basically local monopolies regardless of performance. And school choice (charters, private schools etc) only works only so well as there are actual choices worth considering.
It's not surprising that people cheat to get those education dollars. Being moral in that situation has no benefits. No money. No help. Just a continued existence in a horrible situation.
Andrew at March 30, 2013 12:16 PM
And based on the scores, the kids get moved up and flounder and everyone wonders what happened. If she'd taken the same amount of time and effort into actually teaching--imagine what might happen. Yes, testing is crazy, but otherwise, how does anyone know if Johnny can read and add and subtract?
KateC at March 30, 2013 1:00 PM
I wonder if she gets to keep her pension?
And actually, the high scores COST the school money:
"The falsified test scores were so high that Parks Middle was no longer classified as a school in need of improvement and, as a result, lost $750,000 in state and federal aid, according to investigators. That money could have been used to give struggling children extra academic support. Stacey Johnson, a Parks teacher, told investigators that she had students in her class who had scored proficient on state tests in previous years but were actually reading on the first-grade level. Cheating masked the deficiencies and skewed the diagnosis."
KateC at March 30, 2013 1:08 PM
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