Beverly Hall: The Scandal Is Not the Whole Story

[proud2BlibKansan]

Scandal is the news, but it’s not always the story. I know, because the Atlanta public schools, which I ran for 12 years until I retired in June, are embroiled in cheating allegations that rightly are the focus of extraordinary media coverage. Yet there is a growing danger that this disgraceful situation will set back national educational reform, when it could ironically advance it.

There is no excuse for cheating, and I deeply regret that I did not do more to prevent it.

The challenge now, even as law-enforcement agencies go about their business, is to learn from all of this and ensure that our nation’s schools are improved by it—because the problem of cheating is not unique to Atlanta. According to The New York Times, “Allegations of cheating have erupted in several places, including Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles.”

It greatly saddens me that security for state tests, after they were administered in 2009, was not sufficient to prevent tampering. That security was consistent with standard protocols, but, because the tests had to remain at the schools for several days, there were clearly opportunities for tampering that should have been prevented and were not. In hindsight, I would also more closely monitor the test administration in the classroom, which is now done on a heightened basis.

“Safe rooms” have also been created in the past year in every Atlanta public school for the purpose of securing tests. These safe rooms have cameras monitoring them constantly, and the few people with authorized access must sign in and out.

more . . . http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/08/10/01hall.h31.html?tkn=YTWF29Qub7LmdqoZijHL1NLhlIpU0uxGGhPP&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2