Today the Atlanta school board meets regarding the testing scandal; the former superintendent who resigned in June (reportedly vacationing in Hawaii) has disclaimed all knowledge:
“Apparently, not one of the 82 persons who allegedly ‘confessed’ to cheating told the investigators that Dr. Hall at any time instructed, encouraged or condoned cheating,” said attorney Richard Deane in a statement. “The report’s conclusion that Dr. Hall actually knew of any such cheating is based entirely on supposition. The further conclusion that Dr. Hall ’should have known’ rests on negative inferences from selective, circumstantial evidence.”The interm superintendent is expected to outline his "action plan" at today's meeting.
No, it doesn’t. There is real evidence in the report that Hall and her staff ignored or discredited bona fide complaints of cheating, especially when the allegations were about high-scoring schools that were winning accolades. The report shows a willful effort within APS to maintain the pretense that Hall was a miracle-worker.
The Hechinger Report has a good interview on this. FairTest points out that this is just one of many cheating scandals around the country. Secretary Duncan, however, is "stunned." You'll want to read Sabrina on that.
Interesting from another blog:
ReplyDeleteMost recent Broad-trained superintendent scandal:
Posted by GSD on July 6, 2011 at 12:23pm in Administration
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Under the headline "America's Biggest Teacher And Principal Cheating Scandal Unfolds In Atlanta," the Christian Science Monitor (7/6, Jonsson) reports that Gov. Nathan Deal (R) announced on Tuesday that some "178 named teachers and principals" had allegedly perpetrated "what's likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history." Noting that 82 of the alleged individuals have "confessed," the Monitor adds that the charges "point an ongoing problem for US education, which has developed an ever-increasing dependence on standardized tests." The Monitor describes the deleterious impact the scandal has on the image of outgoing Superintendent Beverly Hall, "who was named US Superintendent of the Year in 2009 largely because of the school system's reported gains."
Just so we are all on the same page here, Atlanta's Board was trained by the Broad foundation in 2006:
http://broadeducation.org/news/53.html ("Broad Institute Trains 29 New School Board Members on Leadership Strategies to Improve Student Achievement")
The connection does not end there: RANDOLPH BYNUM, The Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2007 Associate Superintendent for High Schools.
But we are not done yet! PANYA LEI YARBER, The Broad Residency Class of 2006-2008, is the Chief Strategy Officer for Atlanta Public Schools.
Won't you sleep better at night knowing that, with McIntyre and the new Broad-backed folks for whom he has created positions out of thin air at Central Office, Knox County Schools keeps the same company?