The Cheating Scandal in Atlanta

Education Week has a column here by a professor of educational policy that criticizes much of the commentary about the Atlanta cheating scandal.  His point is that testing gives us valuable information about student achievement, and the Atlanta cheaters are guilty of undermining a valuable resource.

I see Dr. Feuer’s point—we can’t excuse the cheating—I just wish some of his outrage would be directed at policy makers who allow over crowded classrooms, inadequate resources, and poor teacher pay and support--and then put in place punitive testing programs.

Surely, at the very least, what happened in Atlanta is a red flag.