Don’t Blame Testing for Atlanta Cheating, Former School Chief Says

American Association of School Administrators

Former Atlanta school superintendent Beverly Hall

Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall has a column in Education Week addressing her school district’s cheating on state tests. Her conclusion? Don’t blame the reforms.

“Should I have anticipated cheating, based on dramatic gains in test scores? With hindsight, I wish I had.

But there was every reason to believe that our dramatic restructuring would produce dramatic results, as it has. And those results continue to be confirmed by tests that have been independently administered and completed under the tightest security.

As awful as this cheating scandal is, it would be even more awful if we learned the wrong lesson from it. The culprit is not standardized testing or teacher accountability. We need both.”