Quote:
Originally Posted by AGDee
But if *real* scores were used, wouldn't they have faced losing most of their federal funding due to NCLB? Basing funding on test scores is going to lead to things like this. I'm not justifying their behavior, just noting that people will do what they need to do to get funding if desperate.
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Nope. Only non-compliance results in loss of funds*. (Like you didn't give the tests, submit reports, that kind of thing, I think.) Funding is based on testing in the sense that you have to participate to get money, but not very tightly based on the results.
I believe the worst case for failing schools is restructuring in which the majority of staff are replaced at the school, but what's apparently really happened in most of the cases that have gone that far in other states is that the majority of staff will be moved within the district, rather than completely terminated. AND other corrective action counts as restructuring, like extending the day, etc, as I understand it. The district really didn't face that kind of pressure.
And there are other districts that have similar demographics in Georgia who apparently didn't feel the need to cheat, so I don't think there's any reason to give them a "well-their-backs-were-to-the-wall" pass on a systemic level. At the individual level, it's a little more complicated for me because I think it would be very hard to resist that level of direct pressure from your principal and colleagues, and other elementary jobs were pretty hard to find during this time period, for the most part.
But even then, you don't seen cheating in 100% of APS classrooms, so some people did act ethically in spite of the pressure.
This is district created pressure that was apparently resistible for some.
ETA:
http://www.georgia-criminal-lawyers....egin_frau.html
Apparently, they were seeking additional federal funds for being "Distinguished" schools. And they could have lost this additional funding if they didn't score as well. But NCLB doesn't result in loss of your basic federal funding unless you opt out.
EATA:
http://old.sccpss.com/District/Acade...+and+Myths.htm
This is kind of nice overview and explains that regular federal funding isn't tied to results.
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