By Jay Kernis
Rock Center
When scores on standardized tests went up year after year in Atlanta public schools, Dr. Beverly Hall got much of the credit. She had been recruited for the job of schools superintendent after decades of success in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. She started her job in Atlanta in 1999, and a decade later was named the National School Superintendent of the Year.
The remarkable transformation in math and reading scores attracted not only national attention, but large amounts of money to the school system, for example, more than $40 million from philanthropic foundations.
But, this past July, investigators appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue issued the results of a 10-month probe into alleged test tampering. Investigators Bob Wilson, a former Dekalb County district attorney, Mike Bowers, a former state attorney general, and former Atlanta police detective Richard Hyde, had uncovered the largest cheating scandal ever in American schools. They concluded that 178 teachers and principals had cheated in 44 schools across the Atlanta system on the spring 2009 CRCT, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test taken by 1st through 8th graders. And that cheating had gone on for years.
Bowers and Wilson told Rock Center's Harry Smith that school administrators had ignored significant and clear warnings that educators had cheated to raise student scores-that teachers would prompt students during tests with verbal clues or physical prompts. Or, that teachers would gather after school or on weekends , erase wrong answers and change them to correct ones.
The governor's investigators concluded that Dr. Hall either knew or should have known about the cheating and that she created pressure from the top ranks.
Smith asked Hall why she thought teachers and educators changed test answers. She said, "I can't subscribe motives to people, I can only think that either they were not secure in their ability to do the job, or they didn't believe the children-even if they did their job, could learn. Or a combination of the two. I can't explain it any other way."
But investigators accused Dr. Hall of ruling by fear and intimidation. That her mandate was "no exceptions, no excuses."
Dr. Hall, in her first television interview, responds, "I can't imagine where the fear and intimidation came from. It certainly did not come from the top. I just can't see where adults would be able to use that as an excuse."
The investigators also point to the federal No Child Left Behind Law, now being revamped by the Department of Education. But for many years, schools that didn't show progress faced significant consequences, so when she arrived, Dr. Hall instituted a program of academic targets-new standards that her schools had to meet. If they met those targets, Atlanta school employees received bonuses from $50 to $200 dollars. Dr. Hall herself earned more than $580,000 in bonuses during her 12 years in the school system.
Dr. Hall says there were measurable improvements under her leadership. She said, "We have spent a billion dollars on building or renovating the schools of Atlanta. We have transformed failing high schools where now 94 percent of the kids are graduating."
More than 3,000 Atlanta teachers did not cheat. Dr. Hall left the school system in June and her successor, Erroll Davis, has taken steps to safeguard test answer sheets and change the culture in the school system. But those who stand accused now face the scrutiny of a grand jury investigation, revocation of their teaching licenses and some may even face criminal charges. The scandal may cost the city millions.
How much responsibility does Dr. Hall accept for what happened?
She told Harry Smith, "I accept the responsibility for not anticipating that we needed more security and more protocols…but ultimately, the person who cheated is the person who is responsible for their actions." She added, "I hope that if I were to do this again that I would learn from this that I have to anticipate that people will be devious."
According to The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, in the past three years, cheating has been discovered in schools in more than 30 states, including New York, Texas, California, Ohio, Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland and in Washington, DC.
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National test scores continue to be disappointing. This poor trend persists in spite of new texts, standardized tests with implied threats, or laptops in the classroom. At some point, maybe we should admit that math, as it is currently taught, seems irrelevant to a large percentage of grade school kids.
Why blame a sixth grade teacher or student trapped by meaningless lessons? Teachers are frustrated. Students check out.
The missing element is reality. Instead of insisting that students learn another sixteen formulae, we need to involve them in tangible life projects. And the task must be interesting.
Alan Cook
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No disrespect intended but are you kidding me ,seriously you are not that naive. Check out how scores are achieved in New Yorks school systems, more specifically Long Island. School Districts used George Bush's no child left behind as permission to push students ahead to the next grade whether they were eligible to be promoted or not.It's cheaper and less work than actually educating them. One problem they were pushed so far along that at the point of graduation when they should be moving on to college they are so significantly behind in reading, writing and comprehension there is no hope of their success. Instead of finding fault with the 20 something students who cheated on the SAT's, maybe we should look into why they felt they're only chance to do well on the SAT 's was to cheat . That's If you wanted to continue acting like you really cared
Great report!! However, I agree with Dr. Hall, she alone was not totally responsible for the actions of the teachers. She set high expectations that she wanted to be met and unfortunately, she had individuals who could not meet them, so they resorted to cheating. Dr. Hall however must take the blame for not asking questions on what had to be obvious, when you saw extreme changes in the test scores. Sadly the victims in all of this are the children. I am so happy to see Harry Smith on Rock Center. Please don't move the show from Monday nights. It is a great time for a great show!
Sort of off the subject .... but I was just as shocked to hear of her bonus. How is it that any public official or person whose position is public-funded receiving ANY bonus? Arent's public monies funding those bonuses? Shouldn't we be minding how our money is spent. I don't which is more tragic -- the cheating or that we throw our money away in clear daylight!
I have a child that got left behind - but not bc the teachers didn't try their best to get me to let him be "passed along." If a child isn't getting passing grades in Middle School what the hell makes the teachers think they will suddenly start making passing grades in High School? I NEVER understood that policy...um, I'm sorry your child doesn't have the grades to pass from 7th to 8th or 8th to 9th but we want him to go on to High School anyway?? In what world does "passing the problem on to the next one" solve anything? Btw, yes - my child quit as soon as he was legally able to without my permission being needed; and today he washes dishes for a living - Thanks for NOTHING - Hamilton County, Tennessee Schools!
@Leslie: I'm sorry for your son, but wonder how he began life with respect to learning the basic building blocks as a pre-schooler & in early elementary grades. Years 2-5 and 5-10 are absolutely critical learning times. Was he taught the alphabet and numbers by you at home before he began school? Did he exhibit early symptoms of a learning disability such as dyslexia or ADD/ADHD? Was he in any remedial summer programs? Did you see any indication early on that he was having trouble just learning?
I am not an educator, but had a child with dyslexia before the schools knew there was such a thing. If not for a grant to fund a program that just happened to look for study candidates at her school, I would never have known what was wrong & what to do about it. We both struggled until she realized she was quite smart regardless of seeing letters/numbers both backwards & upside down. She worked harder than most kids and with a strong interest in science, earned a masters degree at a very tough & highly touted university. She is a leader in her field despite deciding not to pursue a PhD. I am so very thankful for that education program that set us on the right path early on, and so very proud of her!
Please don't give up on your son! Use your mother's instinct to see what talents he was born with and support those talents in him. He could very easily be the world's best welder or carpenter or painter... and create great works of art. For example, give him an Art History book and drawing materials, then see what happens.
"The investigators also point to the federal No Child Left Behind Law, now being revamped by the Department of Education."
The "No Child Left Behind" program is a joke. All that stupid program does is encourage teachers and principals to pass along students who can't make the grades needed to pass to the next grade level. I have a child that got left behind because I had to insist that he stay in Middle School when he clearly could not pass the work he was given in 8th grade; and all the teachers could say was "Ma'am if we don't go ahead and pass him into High School ; he's more than likely going to quit school." Well...he'll quit with two yrs of 8th grade was my response. Its unbelievable the uncaring attitude that some teachers have for their students who clearly can't read or write correctly; but, who at the end of the year only want to pass the problem along to next teacher so they don't have to deal with that student anymore. Hamilton County Tennessee Schools are the worst! Today he's a dishwasher - thanks for NOTHING "No Child Left Behind" Epic fail!!
First, I agree that while the “No Child Left Behind” act may have had good intentions in concept, it has an almost built-in cause for failure. Rather than using it as a tool to identify which students may be having difficulties in learning, it focuses on tests to see which teachers may be less effective in teaching. Corrupting the process further is incentivizing teaching performance with bonuses. The logical recourse for teachers is to subvert the system by cheating. Otherwise, there may be no path to a higher standard of living and perhaps no job if their performance falls short. The final outcome can be seen at the collegiate level – students taking “catch up” English courses or “catch-up” Math courses.
I see another flaw in the educational process. There are parents who are either unable or unwilling to assist in the teaching process. Some parents may not have the skills to help their child understand the assigned homework, especially if it is more complex than an elementary level. Some parents struggle in today’s economy and may not have the energy to assist.
But to me the worst parent, for a variety of delusional reasons, will just do the child’s homework for the child. Not only does this allow the parent to avoid their responsibility to parent, but it cheats the child of the responsibility to learn.
I believe that schools should begin a program that teaches what I would regard as “the true fundamentals.” Topics should include “how to study,” “how to organize,” and “how to figure out what the @#&% question is asking.” As the child enters the secondary system, more complex issues should be discussed, such as “how to write creatively,” or “how to research an assignment.”
Brian Williams should have checked into the crimes committed by Beverly Hall when she was the state appointed Superintendent of Schools in Newark, New Jersey. She was forced to leave and claims she left to take her job in Atlanta. There were claims of money missing and other crimes. Now she has stolen money from Atlanta in bonuses that she did not deserve. This woman should be in jail for taking taxpayers money in two cities that could use that money for other purposes. Just watch she will show up in another school system.
So now Beverly Hall's sole defense is that she's too stupid to recognize the STATISTICAL PROOF of all the cheating? Ok. If so, then WHY did we pay her TEN times, or ONE HUNDRED TIMES, more than she was worth? What was all that extra money FOR in the first place?
"I'm too stupid to manage so let me keep all the EXTRA hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars I earned ILLEGALLY!"
Sure, Beverly. Keep it.
I would agree this situation is absurd and the folks involved should be punished. But I was uncomfortable with the end of the report on ROCK Center when Brian Williams said this is going on all over the country in many schools and many districts. The story did not indicate any other schools or districts were involved and they offered no facts to show this was a wide spread problem. The story on the Atlanta case was clear and backed up with facts. The other comment made it feel like every Public School is doing this and it is common I fear this just feeds negative and false stereotypes of educators and the public education system. Please show the facts and schools involved. Any thing less is just gossip.
It's been my experience in the business world, that people perform to the metrics they're being measured against. Beverly Hall was performing to the metric that would get her the repeated monetary bonus--test results. Educators have become slaves to student testing because all rewards are connected to these results. Most politicians that control the purse strings to the educational system are not educators and don't necessarily understand the process of actual learning. They equate the evaluation of student learning with test results because it's a simple indicator to manage. Human nature is human nature and if the educational system was told that their funding was dependent on how many paper airplanes were produced by students per year---there would be a massive amount of them suddenly produced. Test results, all too often have little to do with actual learning.
This very sad and an unspeakable situation with teachers and supervisory personnel doing what crooks do best and that is steal. If the superintendent is not held accountable for this cheating then all is lost. All schools in the U.S. should be audited on the personnel to nip this type of behavior and also make examples of the ones that are not playing by the rules.
I am not condoning these professionals behavior but I feel that the parents has a responsibility to their children's educational success as well. Parent should know if their child is performing as well as they should. One do not have to look at a progress report to know if their child is where they are suppose to be. Look into that child's packpack check their work. What does their writing look like, how is the grammar, and how's the reading and math skills? Most of all how much time at home is applied to study? We can't leave our children's future up to educators who probably cheated to get where they are. Teachers should be required to take continuing eduation classes every year to keep their license like many other professions and they should be tested every 3-5 years to make sure they are up to standards becoming one to teach others.
I am not condoning these professionals behavior but I feel that the parents has a responsibility to their children's educational success as well. Parent should know if their child is performing as well as they should. One do not have to look at a progress report to know if their child is where they are suppose to be. Look into that child's packpack check their work. What does their writing look like, how is the grammar, and how's the reading and math skills? Most of all how much time at home is applied to study? We can't leave our children's future up to educators who probably cheated to get where they are. Teachers should be required to take continuing eduation classes every year to keep their license like many other professions and they should be tested every 3-5 years to make sure they are up to standards becoming one to teach others.
You clearly know nothing about the profession of teaching, or the requirements thereof. Teachers ARE required to take continuing education and professional development on a yearly basis. In my district (and probably most disctricts) teachers are evaluated (by a VERY stringent evaluative tool, by the way) every year for several years, and then every other year after that. Most (note I do not say all) teachers are in the profession because of a deep and sincere concern for children and a desire to help them reach their full potential. Test scores DO NOT always accurately reflect a child's mastery of skills and concepts, and by now I think we can all agree on that...but until the politicians in charge of education in this country accept this, educators will continue to face pressure to "raise scores", and some will respond by taking it too far. These people should be (and usually are) removed from the profession immediately. The rest of us will get right back to the business of educating the children entrusted to us, to the best of our abilities...
As a retired educator I can say that I never saw this type of activity in my school. I was never pressured by administrators to change test scores. NCLB is a joke. No one can force students to learn. I have been told by parents that their child was being left behind because said child did not get an A in my class. Everything suddenly became the responsibility of teachers. Students who didn't try, parents who did nothing, administrators who cared only about test scores (not learning) and the failure rate were not responsible for anything.
BUT athletics is a completely different story. Unqualified students were allowed to participate in sports.
A child's learning as well as discipline starts the moment you take them home from the hospital after their born. So when they star school they have a foundation of both learning and discipline the two goes hand and hand.
Scheming, conniving, lying, cheating, thieving frauds! Lock 'em up and throw away the key so others will see AND these things will stop.
A have to laugh at everyone who sit in judgement of Beverly Hall. ontSchool superintents sign a legal contract. Why is she not being sued by the school to return all the money she took. Schools are not teaching the children anything but how to past the end of year test. In Guilford County, NC our children are not given the books they need but are being taught some CORE program. I feel we should backup and teach reading, writing, and arithmatic. Also all they are taught is how to print and not write. So sad that all children are being left behind because they want to stream line everything toward the Testing. Is thing not child abuse when the children are not taught by passed on to another grade when they can't read or write.
I don't know about anywhere else but in NYC, teachers are openly blamed for all the ills of the school system; including poor test scores, in an attempt to get public support for teachers to work without contracts, to close schools by the scores and to unfairly rate teachers regardless of whether their students are low functioning or not. Special education teachers and ESL teachers are held to the same standards as teachers in classes with students who are able to meet higher standards. If they don't, their jobs are on the line. So realistically, what is to be expected ? These are human beings simply trying to make a living. A child could fail every tests all year long and never submit 1 homework and that child will move to the next grade simply by passing the ELA and math test with a "2." It is easy to blame educators for all the social ills responsible for their student's failure than to ask parents and teachers to come together and take a stronger interest in education. Why would you give momey to people for higher test scores and dismiss others for students' failures. Who is making these decisions.
Rule of thumb: when people are evaluated by a metric of any kind, they will find ways to game that metric. If the only things that count in education are test scores and teachers get blamed for not meeting score standards, well... #1, teachers will teach to the test, and all other goals in education fall to the wayside, and #2, schools will stop teaching art, music, drama, wood and metal shop, handwriting, home economics, typing, and driver education, and focus entirely on the subjects that NCLB does test, in other words language arts and algebra, and #3, some educators will cheat, and #4, the system will be gamed in any other way possible--and believe me, those avenues do exist, and every school principal in the US is using them.
Einstein pointed out that a fish isn't stupid just because it can't climb a tree. Not all students are going to be good at algebra and/or language arts. That doesn't mean they can't be successful in the real world. Those students may be geniuses in other fields, like the arts or in mechanics. What happens to them in today's school?--they get taught that they are stupid. They get left behind, and it doesn't matter how hard the teacher tries to teach them to parse a sentence or solve a quadratic equation, it ain't gonna happen. Tell me, when you want your car tuned up, do you ever ask the mechanic if they passed geometry? When you buy a music CD, do you care if the artist knew how to organize a persuasive essay?
A competent first grade teacher can tell you with 95% accuracy how well her students will perform academically in high school. So why is it that every teacher between first and twelfth get blamed when the fishes fail to climb the tree?
A last comment on this whole sorry topic. All the adults in the US should be required to take the tests we now expect EVERY high school graduate to pass. I have, and believe me, not 20% of US adults could pass the tests. Run those tests by the idiots who want to blame the schools, publish the results, and that would be the end of NCLB.
Then maybe teachers could go back to running their classrooms for the good of the students.
Rule of thumb: when people are evaluated by a metric of any kind, they will find ways to game that metric. If the only things that count in education are test scores and teachers get blamed for not meeting score standards, well... #1, teachers will teach to the test, and all other goals in education fall to the wayside, and #2, schools will stop teaching art, music, drama, wood and metal shop, handwriting, home economics, typing, and driver education, and focus entirely on the subjects that NCLB does test, in other words language arts and algebra, and #3, some educators will cheat, and #4, the system will be gamed in any other way possible--and believe me, those avenues do exist, and every school principal in the US is using them.
Einstein pointed out that a fish isn't stupid just because it can't climb a tree. Not all students are going to be good at algebra and/or language arts. That doesn't mean they can't be successful in the real world. Those students may be geniuses in other fields, like the arts or in mechanics. What happens to them in today's school?--they get taught that they are stupid. They get left behind, and it doesn't matter how hard the teacher tries to teach them to parse a sentence or solve a quadratic equation, it ain't gonna happen. Tell me, when you want your car tuned up, do you ever ask the mechanic if they passed geometry? When you buy a music CD, do you care if the artist knew how to organize a persuasive essay?
A competent first grade teacher can tell you with 95% accuracy how well her students will perform academically in high school. So why is it that every teacher between first and twelfth get blamed when the fishes fail to climb the tree?
A last comment on this whole sorry topic. All the adults in the US should be required to take the tests we now expect EVERY high school graduate to pass. I have, and believe me, not 20% of US adults could pass the tests. Run those tests by the idiots who want to blame the schools, publish the results, and that would be the end of NCLB.
Then maybe teachers could go back to running their classrooms for the good of the students.