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9486 in the collection
DeKalb principal at school in CRCT probe resigns Atherton Elementary among 4 in Ga. being investigated for cheating
Ohanian Comment: A lot of people read an article like this with a gleeful, "See what standardized testing does?" I read it with deep sadness. Think of the pressure of being caught between cheating and reconstitution, turn around, shame that causes people to ruin their careers.
This is from the Georgia Department of Education website:The CRCT is designed to measure student acquisition and understanding of the knowledge, concepts, and skills set forth in the Georgia Performance Standards. The testing program serves as a measure of the quality of education in the state. Reports yielding information on academic achievement at the student, class, school, system, and state levels are produced annually.
Georgia superintendent of schools Kathy Cox's name appears on every page of the Georgia math standards, which number 50 pages. You may remember her as a contestant on the American television game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on Friday, September 5, 2008. She was the first million-dollar winner on the show. The eleventh/million-dollar question was, "Who was the longest reigning British monarch?" Cox declared she was going to donate the winnings to the schools, but on November 17, 2008, Cox and her husband filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing $3.5 million in debt and $650,000 in assets. Insolvent when she appeared on the TV show, the prize money belonged to her creditors and wasn't hers to give away.
I dunno, doesn't it seem like maybe she has something of a math problem?
Take a look at these Georgia 5th Grade Math Standards and maybe you'll feel somewhat more sympathetic toward these administrators.
CRCT Content Descriptions
based on the Georgia Performance Standards
Mathematics Grade: 5
Domain: Number and Operations
Domain Description
Number and Operations refers to students’ skill in further developing understanding of numbers, the
meanings of multiplication and division of decimals, and the use of decimals and common fractions in
computation and problem solving.
Standards Associated with Domain
M5N1 M5N2 M5N3 M5N4
M5N5
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Classify the set of counting numbers into subsets with distinguishing characteristics (odd/even,
prime/composite)
• Find multiples and factors
• Analyze and use divisibility rules
• Understand place value
• Analyze the effect on the product when a number is multiplied by 10, 100, 1000, 0.1, and 0.01
• Model multiplication and division of decimals by another decimal
• Explain the process of multiplication and division, including situations in which the multiplier and
divisor are both whole numbers and decimals
• Multiply and divide with decimals including decimals less than one and greater than one
• Understand that the relationships and rules for multiplication and division of whole numbers also
apply to decimals
• Understand division of whole numbers can be represented as a fraction (a/b = a ÷ b)
• Understand the value of a fraction is not changed when both its numerator and denominator are
multiplied or divided by the same number because it is the same as multiplying or dividing by one
• Find equivalent fractions and simplify fractions
• Model the multiplication and division of common fractions
• Explore finding common denominators using concrete, pictorial, and computational models
• Use <, >, or = to compare fractions and justify the comparison
• Add and subtract common fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators
• Use fractions (proper and improper) and decimals interchangeably
• Estimate products and quotients
• Model percent on 10 by 10 grids
• Apply percentage to circle graphs
CRCT Content Descriptions – Mathematics
Grade: 5
Domain: Measurement
Domain Description
Measurement refers to students’ skill in understanding and computing the areas of geometric plane
figures, the volumes of simple geometric solids, and the measurement of capacity. This domain also refers
to students’ skill in converting measures from one unit to another within a system of measurement.
Standards Associated with Domain
M5M1 M5M3 M5M4
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Estimate the area of fundamental geometric plane figures
• Derive the formula for the area of a parallelogram (e.g., cut the parallelogram apart and rearrange it
into a rectangle of the same area)
• Derive the formula for the area of a triangle (e.g. demonstrate and explain its relationship to the area
of a rectangle with the same base and height)
• Find the areas of triangles and parallelograms using formulae
• Estimate the area of a circle through partitioning and tiling and then find the area of a circle with formula (let
pi = 3.14). (Discuss square units as they apply to circles.)
• Find the area of a polygon (regular and irregular) by dividing it into squares, rectangles, and/or
triangles and finding the sum of the areas of those shapes
• Use milliliters, liters, fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, and gallons to measure capacity
• Compare one unit to another within a single system of measurement (e.g., 1 quart = 2 pints)
• Understand a cubic unit (u3) is represented by a cube in which each edge has the length of 1 unit
• Identify the units used in computing volume as cubic centimeters (cm3), cubic meters (m3), cubic
inches (in3), cubic feet (ft3), and cubic yards (yd3)
• Derive the formula for finding the volume of a cube and a rectangular prism using manipulatives
• Compute the volume of a cube and a rectangular prism using formulae
• Estimate the volume of a simple geometric solid
• Understand the similarities and differences between volume and capacity
Grade: 5
Domain: Geometry
Domain Description
Geometry refers to students’ skill in understanding geometric figures, including congruence; the
correspondence of their vertices, sides, and angles; and the relationship pi to circles.
Standards Associated with Domain
M5G1 M5G2
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Understand congruence of geometric figures and the correspondence of their vertices, sides, and
angles
• Understand the relationship of the circumference of a circle, its diameter,
and pi (π = 3.14)
Mathematics
Grade: 5
Domain: Algebra
Domain Description
Algebra refers to students’ skill in understanding, representing, and investigating mathematical
expressions algebraically by using variables.
Standard Associated with Domain
M5A1
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Use variables, such as n or x, for unknown quantities in algebraic expressions
• Investigate simple algebraic expressions by substituting numbers for the unknown
• Determine that a formula will be reliable regardless of the type of number
(whole numbers or decimal fractions) substituted for the variable
Grade: 5
Domain: Data Analysis
Domain Description
Data Analysis refers to students’ skill in gathering, organizing, and displaying data. This domain also
refers to students’ skill in interpreting graphs.
Standards Associated with Domain
M5D1 M5D2
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Analyze data presented in a graph
• Compare and contrast multiple graphic representations (circle graphs, line graphs, bar graphs, etc.) for a
single set of data and discuss the advantages/disadvantages of each
• Collect, organize, and display data using the most appropriate graph
Grade: 5
Mathematical Process Skills
Mathematical Process Skills are integrated across the five domains.
Mathematical Process Skills refers to students’ dexterity in applying concepts and skills in the context of
authentic problems and understanding concepts rather than merely following a sequence of procedures.
Process skills are used to acquire and apply content knowledge.
Process skills include solving problems that arise in mathematics and other contexts; reasoning and
evaluating mathematical arguments; communicating mathematically; making connections among
mathematical ideas and to other content areas; and representing mathematical ideas in multiple ways
Standards Associated with Domain
M5P1 M5P2 M5P3 M5P4
M5P5
Associated Concepts, Skills, and Abilities
• Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving
• Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts
• Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems
• Monitor and reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving
• Recognize reasoning and proof as fundamental aspects of mathematics
• Make and investigate mathematical conjectures
• Develop and evaluate mathematical arguments and proofs
• Select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof
• Organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication
• Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others
• Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and strategies of others
• Use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely
• Recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas
• Understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent
whole
• Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics
• Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas
• Select, apply, and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems
• Use representations to model and interpret physical, social, and mathematical phenomena
By Kristina Torres
A principal has resigned and an assistant principal is under investigation at a DeKalb County school implicated by the state in a possible test cheating probe.
Former Atherton Elementary School Principal James Berry and Assistant Principal Doretha Alexander now face accusations of cheating from system officials.
“Atherton is a great school. It’s got great students. It’s got great teachers,” DeKalb chief deputy superintendent Robert Moseley said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Moseley said no student and “no teacher has been implicated in this mess. It’s all the principal and assistant principal. Cheating? Yes, and that is an understatement. It’s the students who were cheated by the administrators.”
According to state and local officials, preliminary audit results by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement reveal that someone at Atherton and three other Georgia schools deliberately changed students’ answers last summer on fifth-grade standardized math retests.
At Atherton, half of the DeKalb school’s fifth-graders failed a yearly state test in the spring. When the 32 students took retests, not only did every one of them pass — 26 scored at the highest level.
— Kristina Torres
Atlanta Journal Constitution
2009-06-11
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2009/06/11/atherton_principal_resigns_crct.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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