Morning Metro: Coffee Pops, AJC Cheating Investigation Challenged, and Live-Blogging a 1917 Fire
Decatur Metro | March 30, 2012 | 9:07 am
- King of Pops and Batdorf & Bronson teaming up for coffee pops [AJC]
- CL challenges AJC’s nationwide test score cheating investigation [CL]
- DeKalb has two permanent electronics recycling sites [CHCA]
- Bhojanic expanding to Buckhead [TNT]
- “Put an egg on it.” [Southern Urban Homestead]
- Ponce closed again this weekend for Beltline construction [Patch]
- Atlanta History Center to “live blog” Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 [AHC]
Photos courtesy of Roger Penguino via Flickr
In reference to the King of Pops collaboartion with Batdorf & Bronson, I guess his time on the Square last summer paid off for him! I am looking forward to the iced goat.
Nowhere in CL’s diatribe did I see them mention that they asked the AJC for comment. And I think the AJC deserves a lot of credit for raising these issues. Using exactly this sort of reporting, the AJC triggered investigations into test scores in Atlanta, and it has come to light that educators were erasing answers to boost children’s test scores. I’m not even positive that the AJC has reported for sure that the questionable scores are evidence of cheating, just that they’re unlikely to happen by chance. And sure, school officials are going to dispute those scores.
I think CL has every right to challenge what the AJC has reported. But to not even mention any attempt to ask for their side is very sloppy journalism.
Having read the entire CL article just now, and all the comments, it sounds like sloppy journalism on all sides. One side congratulates themselves and their competitor slams them.
I agree. I would much rather that the AJC erred on the side of overstating what they uncovered than not have uncovered it at all. We all knew that many things about NCLB, testing, school improvement, and awards to school systems did not ring true. But between intimidation within school systems and inability to speak up among parents, it took some outside initiative and persistence to reveal the truth. What a terrible and cynical example this has been for teachers who have to work within school systems and may be harassed or fired if they do not appear compliant, parents who try to trust their public school leaders and are criticized if they speak up, and children who learn from their role models. It’s the same as when our country was founded, a vigilant public and probing press are necessary to keep government honest. For school systems with integrity, transparency, and competence, it should be no problem to explain why unusual testing results were not the result of cheating.