Is NCLB a factor in APS cheating?

For those of you reading this outside the metro-Atlanta area, a recent report was released discussing some members of the Atlanta Public Schools' involvement in manipulating students' answers on tests. It's been front page news for the last few days in the AJC.

AJC articles citing parts of the report are saying that there was a culture of cheating in the school system - which involved more than 100 teachers and administrators.

The AJC notes that the report specifically names 178 educators, including 38 principals, as participants in cheating. The paper says investigators said they confirmed cheating in 44 of 56 schools they examined.

The cheating scandal, in my opinion, reveals a flaw in the much lauded and now seemingly forgotten No Child Left Behind Act.

NCLB, which was instituted back in 2001, requires all government-run schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test (all students take the same test under the same conditions) annually to all students. The students' scores are used to determine whether the school has taught the students well. If the school's results are repeatedly poor, then a series of steps are taken to improve the school.

Here's the kicker to NCLB. Each year the schools must see significant improvement, or they run the risk of losing funding or at the worst, possibly being taken over by the state.

A former South Carolina elementary school principal once told me that it was impossible to constantly make the success the act called for. Oh it was easy to score really well one year - but to keep scoring even better the next year and so on - well that's when the measure began to become a bit impossible, she told me.

I would argue that NCLB puts tremendous pressure on school systems and could lead to these test manipulation situations. Perhaps this could explain the need for educators to indulge in this alleged rampant cheating in Atlanta Public Schools. How many sleepless nights did administrators suffer when it came time for test results to come back. How many eventually broke down and took the easy way out - at the expense of the children.

You see, this is who it's all about - the children. By indulging in this alleged cheating, the Atlanta Public School system has effectively stranded its youth in a hopeless sea of disparity and false accomplishments. When these students reach college age, it would be interesting to track their progress - to see their performance without the aid of these alleged "rogue" educators.

I wonder how are these students fairing, or if parents will file lawsuits against the school system. I also wonder if there isn't widespread cheating going on in some other parts of the country. Atlanta can't be the only school system that has allegedly done this? Can it?