Posted on 07/05/2011 5:04:50 PM PDT by Jean S
ATLANTA — Educators at nearly four dozen Atlanta elementary and middle schools cheated on standardized tests by either helping students or changing the answers once exams were handed in, according to the results of a yearlong state investigation released Tuesday.
The report said that 178 teachers and principals cheated, though only 82 educators actually confessed to misconduct dating as far back as 2001 and affecting thousands of school children, according to a synopsis handed out by Gov. Nathan Deal's office. More than half of the district's 100 schools were examined, and 44 of those had cheating, the synopsis said.
The investigators also found a "culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation" in the school district over the cheating allegations, which lead to educators lying about the cheating or destroying documents to cover it up, according to the synopsis. School officials had "warnings" as early as 2005 that there was cheating on standardized tests, but those signals "were ignored," according to the synopsis.
Deal would not give out any further details or release the voluminous report because he said it contains "very specific information" about educators. The results of the investigation are being forwarded to prosecutors, and many of the cases could lead to criminal charges, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at deseretnews.com ...
“Amish kids was it?”
Given that this is Atlanta we’re talking about, it must have been the Southern Baptists wielding casseroles.
You know about the power of casseroles, don’t you?
Sad BTTT!
I hate what they (all politicians) are doing to our future generations.
And, then there are those who choose homeschooling and private schools.
We’ll see where those students end up.
BTW, I totally agree with you on merit pay. We need incentives for teachers who perform well.
One more thing...it’s good to “see” you again! ;o)
This is the real problem. It is a cultural one, and it is now very, very deep. Everyone knows education is important, and everyone sees it as essential for the kids to get a good education, which gives the left the lever they need. Setting up "targets" for improvements, with penalties for not achieving, sounds really good at first glance, but slowly and surely it sets up an appalling mindset. To avoid criticism, educators redirect their priorities from teaching kids actual useful things they might need to know, and towards teaching them how to pass exams. And of course they cheat - not neccesarily as badly as in this article, but by telling kids answers, giving them assistance so blatant that they never have a chance to understand - I've heard of schools where teachers virtually write the essays for their pupils.
The really pernicious thing is that once one batch of teachers (or administrators - they are probably even more culpable) are doing this kind of thing, others have little choice but to follow suit. Think on it. If other teachers are getting their pupils through the courses by making it easy, then their results are better than yours. You come over as being a "bad" teacher. And as your chance of promotion and even re-employment is based on how well your pupils do, then obviously if you want to keep up you have to "cheat" too. "No child left behind" and similar programs paradoxically encourage lower standards.
The honest truth that leftists leave out is that achievement at school is not solely determined by the educators. You can have the finest teachers and best teacher pupil ratios going. You can offer every opportunity to your pupils, but in the end they have to play their part too. If they insist on slobbing around and jerking off then they will fail, and as far as I'm concerned if they do do that they should fail.
In private schools I'm familiar with cheating like this wasn't possible. Proctors for standardizes tests were randomly assigned outsiders, answers were collected and sealed immediately.
I would believe that the anecdotes given are very predominate in the bunch of teachers that just their vote to Obama. Another showing of why unions and membership should not be a required factor for any public or private employee. Unions have outlived an honorable societal function.
In contrast the school I was in had 3 quizzes and 3 exams every WEEK, to keep us on our toes. Sure it was tough but it gave the students tremendous work ethic. I look at where my classmates are now and all of them are doing extremely well in life. Sadly I attended those schools abroad but there are many branches of the SABIS system in the US. I think there are 10 of them, and 2 of them placed int he top 10% of highschools. When I have children I will want them to go to those schools as I cant seem to trust the educational system, plus I know what I would be getting enrolling them there. I would want them to be challenged and not just have fun fun fun all through school. Life is tough and requires hard work and is something they need to learn early on.
Here’s the latest news.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/investigation-into-aps-cheating-1001375.html
Ah, Atlanta - a Yankee enclave in the midst of the Conservative South. I can’t say I’m surprised.
...tip of the iceberg.
NO...they have learned a very important lesson in life, someone else will feed me,house me,pay for my TV and computer,my cell phone, and I can become President!
What can they do except cheat to get good scores on the tests?
I hate to admit this, but....when I was in school I was a very good student but I hated those standardized tests, and I knew they didn’t count for any of my grades, so I just marked any answer just to get them done.
And amoung the better students, I wasn’t the only one that did so.
These tests prove nothing. Time for another way to calculate learning.
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the power of the casserole.
The former superintendent should be jailed...what an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity loser. Just what is with these “educators”? This happens all over the USA. They seem to fail in one school system. Gain a pension, leave to another school system and get another pension after messing with those students futures. They are overpaid loser grifters. Justice now...jail them all. “Superintendent of the Year”?????? This reprobate should be serving time as “Inmate of the Year”. Disgusting clown...
“Pumping out HS graduates with 5th grade reading/math skills.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Where I live the universities appear to be pumping out history majors who don’t even have fifth grade history knowledge.
Your point is very valid. Schooling begins at home with parents that promote learning as a priority. The breakdown of the family unit (especially in minority families) often make teaching difficult as best
Many kids don't see the need to learn or get a good job - they get free breakfast, lunch, dinner, rent, health care, etc., as well as an iPod. This attitude becomes contagious (it becomes a competition to see who can care the least or "get over" the most).
The work ethic is shot, and the idea of pride in everyday accomplishments is lost.
...And 'that' is one of the keys to good 'teaching'. The realization that no matter how 'smart' the teacher is, if the student isn't challenged to solve problems, he is in no need of answers.
The REAL SOLUTION to the problems in schools (and homes) is DISCIPLINE with CONSISTENCY.
Giving a child a grade they don't deserve is an injustice to the child and installs in them the belief that it is not necessary to put out any effort, or try to improve, to succeed. This produces adults who believe in entitlement.
The attempt to provide 'uniform' education and grade levels (to qualify for bonuses) is another railroad to hell. The fact of life is that some students are more motivated, and able to more quickly grasp new concepts. If you didn't get good grades in school, it should be because your interest in the subjects didn't grow, you didn't invest the time at home to study, and you failed to follow the teachers instructions.
Some people aren't good at math, or history. So what. If the grading system doesn't reflect the truth, then of what value is it?
There were good teachers, and they usually had the better students. There were middle range students, and there were middle range teachers who still managed to get the basics through by consistency, discipline, and giving the students an honest grade.
Then there were the misfits, and the 'special' teachers who tried to control them until they passed through the system.
It worked pretty good, too.
Nowadays, half the teachers spend their days trying not to get raped, and the other half spend their days trying to figure out how to rape the students. Since the 'performance' skills (therefore the raises, bonuses) of the teacher are based on fitting the students to a pre-mapped curve, then the teachers 'learn' to produce that result.
Once the Unions (organized crime) got involved in the teaching industry, it became all about the money. The students and teachers are just pawns in a game to extort as much cash flow from the financial section of the entire teaching industry as possible.
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