The Atlanta Journal Constitution – Maureen Downey
“For the first time, we have some data on the fate of children whose CRCT answer sheets were likely altered – wrong answers changed to right — in the APS cheating scandal. Up to this point, there’s only been speculation on whether test tampering on the 2009 CRCT undermined student learning and, if so, to what extent. Tonight Atlanta Public Schools released a report by Georgia State University that concludes “negative effects of the 2009 Atlanta Public Schools cheating are moderate and not uniform across students in classrooms identified as having irregular wrong-to-right test item changes in the spring of 2009.” The study, “The Long-Run Effects of Teacher Cheating on Student Outcomes,” was completed by Dr. Tim R. Sass from GSU’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. and two doctoral students Jarod Apperson and Carycruz Bueno. (Apperson writes the Grading Atlanta blog.) Looking at the erasure data on wrong to right answers, the study found 7,064 students likely had answers doctored. More than half still attend APS schools.”(more)