CRCT Cheating

CRCT Cheating Investigation

The state launched investigations into test-cheating in Atlanta Public Schools after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published analyses in 2008 and 2009 that found suspiciously high gains on the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT).

Public school students in grades 1-8 are required to take the CRCT in reading, English and math. Students in grades 3-8 also take science and social studies exams.

State education officials' examination of erasures on answer sheets found suspicious numbers of wrong-to-right corrections on the 2009 CRCT in 58 Atlanta schools, far more than in any other Georgia district. The Atlanta district's own review – performed by a panel that came to be known as the Blue Ribbon Commission – suggested that cheating was concentrated in just 12 of the 58 schools. But a criminal inquiry, the results of which were released July 2011, documented evidence of widespread cheating.

• Search: School map detailing results of all three investigations

• Original Analysis: Georgia Schools have questionable results

• Timeline: CRCT Testing saga