School cheating scandal reportedly nationwide

Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Suspicious test scores in roughly 200 school districts resemble those that entangled Atlanta in the biggest cheating scandal in American history, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.

The newspaper analyzed test results for 69,000 public schools and found high  concentrations of suspect math or reading scores in school systems from  coast to coast. The findings represent an unprecedented examination of the  integrity of school testing.

The analysis doesn’t prove cheating. But it reveals that test scores in  hundreds of cities followed a pattern that, in Atlanta, indicated cheating  in multiple schools.

A tainted and largely unpoliced universe of untrustworthy test results  underlies bold changes in education policy, the findings show. The tougher  teacher evaluations many states are rolling out, for instance, place more  weight than ever on tests.

Perhaps more important, the analysis suggests a broad betrayal of schoolchildren across the nation. As Atlanta learned after cheating was uncovered in half its elementary and middle schools last year, falsified test results deny struggling students access to extra help to which they are  entitled, and erode confidence in a vital public institution.