Articles On Information

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<a href="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Donald Bullock, a former Atlanta testing coordinator, was led to a holding cell after his conviction. A judge ordered most of the educators jailed immediately." data-mediaviewer-credit="Pool photo by Kent D. Johnson" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb1/02ATLANTAweb1-superJumbo.jpg" height="292" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb1/02ATLANTAweb1-master675.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb1/02ATLANTAweb1-master675.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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ATLANTA
 —  In a dramatic conclusion to what has been described as the largest 
cheating scandal in the nation’s history, a jury here on Wednesday 
convicted 11 educators for their roles in a standardized test cheating 
scandal that tarnished a major school district’s reputation and raised 
broader questions about the role of high-stakes testing in American 
schools.</div>
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On
 their eighth day of deliberations, the jurors convicted 11 of the 12 
defendants of racketeering, a felony that carries up to 20 years in 
prison. Many of the defendants — a mixture of Atlanta public school 
teachers, testing coordinators and administrators — were also convicted 
of other charges, such as making false statements, that could add years 
to their sentences.</div>
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Judge
 Jerry W. Baxter of Fulton County Superior Court ordered most of the 
educators jailed immediately, and they were led from the courtroom in 
handcuffs. Judge Baxter, who presided over a trial that began with 
opening statements more than six months ago, will begin sentencing 
hearings next week.</div>
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<a href="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Sharon Davis Williams, a former research team director, after being found guilty by a Fulton County Superior Court jury. Sentencing begins next week." data-mediaviewer-credit="Pool photo by Kent D. Johnson" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb2/02ATLANTAweb2-superJumbo.jpg" height="300" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb2/02ATLANTAweb2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/02/us/02ATLANTAweb2/02ATLANTAweb2-articleLarge.jpg" width="400" /></a> 
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 “Our
 entire effort in this case was simply to get our community to stop and 
take a look at our educational system,” District Attorney Paul L. Howard
 Jr. said, adding, “I think because of the decision of this jury today 
that people will stop. I think people will stop, and they will make an 
assessment of our educational system.”</div>
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The
 dozen educators who stood trial, including five teachers and a 
principal, were indicted in 2013 after years of questions about how 
Atlanta students had substantially improved their scores on the <a href="https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/CRCT.aspx" title="Georgia Department of Education website">Criterion-Referenced Competency Test</a>, a standardized examination given throughout Georgia.</div>
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In 2009, <a href="http://www.ajc.com/s/news/school-test-scores/#top-stories" title="Journal-Constitution coverage">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>
 started publishing a series of articles that sowed suspicion about the 
veracity of the test scores, and Gov. Sonny Perdue ultimately ordered an
 investigation.</div>
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The
 inquiry, which was completed in 2011, led to findings that were 
startling and unsparing: Investigators concluded that cheating had 
occurred in at least 44 schools and that the district had been troubled 
by “organized and systemic misconduct.” Nearly 180 employees, including 
38 principals, were accused of wrongdoing as part of an effort to 
inflate test scores and misrepresent the achievement of Atlanta’s 
students and schools.</div>
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The
 investigators wrote that cheating was particularly ingrained in 
individual schools — at one, for instance, a principal wore gloves while
 she altered answer sheets — but they also said that the district’s top 
officials, including Superintendent Beverly L. Hall, bore some 
responsibility.</div>
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Investigators
 wrote in the report that Dr. Hall and her aides had “created a culture 
of fear, intimidation and retaliation” that had permitted “cheating — at
 all levels — to go unchecked for years.”</div>
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Officials
 said the cheating allowed employees to collect bonuses and helped 
improve the reputations of both Dr. Hall and the perpetually troubled 
school district she had led since 1999.</div>
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Dr.
 Hall, who died on March 2, insisted that she had done nothing wrong and
 that her approach to education, which emphasized data, was not to 
blame. “I can’t accept that there’s a culture of cheating,” Dr. Hall <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/08hall.html" title="Times article">said in an interview</a> in 2011. “What these 178 are accused of is horrific, but we have over 3,000 teachers.”</div>
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But a Fulton County grand jury later <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/us/former-school-chief-in-atlanta-indicted-in-cheating-scandal.html" title="Times article">accused her and 34 other district employees</a>
 of being complicit in the cheating. Twenty-one of the educators reached
 plea agreements; two defendants, including Dr. Hall, died before they 
could stand trial.</div>
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But
 12 defendants chose to go before a jury. Testimony did not conclude 
until the end of February, and jurors began their deliberations on March
 19.</div>
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It
 was a gamble. Judge Baxter warned during a plea hearing in 2014 that 
there would be “severe consequences” for any defendant who was convicted
 at trial. The gamble paid off for a single defendant, Dessa Curb, a 
former elementary school teacher who was acquitted on Wednesday.</div>
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“I’m thankful to God that it turned out well for me, but I’m very upset about the others,” Ms. Curb said outside the courtroom.</div>
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<a href="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Beverly L. Hall, the former superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. Investigators said Dr. Hall, who died on March 2, &ldquo;created a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation.&rdquo;" data-mediaviewer-credit="Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/us/00ATLANTAweb2/00ATLANTAweb2-superJumbo.jpg" height="266" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/us/00ATLANTAweb2/00ATLANTAweb2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/us/00ATLANTAweb2/00ATLANTAweb2-articleLarge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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 Defense
 lawyers, some of whom were clearly angered by Judge Baxter’s decision 
to jail the educators on Wednesday, immediately began planning appeals 
and said they were stunned by the verdicts.</div>
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“I
 respect the jury, but I believe they got it wrong,” said Robert G. 
Rubin, who represented Dana Evans, a former principal. He described Ms. 
Evans as “shocked and devastated.”</div>
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“We
 certainly talked about the possibility that this would happen,” he 
said. “I don’t think either one of us believed it would actually 
happen.”</div>
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Just
 as the defendants took a risk by standing trial, Mr. Howard had made a 
bet of his own when he decided to prosecute educators under a law more 
frequently used against organized crime figures. During three days of 
closing arguments last month, defense lawyers often said that Mr. 
Howard’s office had overreached.</div>
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And
 on Wednesday, even as Mr. Howard received some vindication, questions 
persisted about whether he should have devoted such extraordinary 
attention to the case.</div>
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“The
 jury has made a determination, and in some respects, that affirms what 
the prosecution has done in this case,” said William H. Thomas, a former
 federal prosecutor here. “For me, the real question is: Was the victory
 worth the candle? Have they killed a fly with the proverbial 
sledgehammer?”</div>
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The
 trial riveted Atlantans — television and radio stations interrupted 
programming on Wednesday afternoon to broadcast the courtroom scene — 
and the city’s school board said in a statement that the verdict capped 
“a sad and tragic chapter for Atlanta Public Schools.”</div>
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The
 district, which has more than 50,000 students, has in recent years 
created a hotline for ethics complaints to be made anonymously, ended 
bonuses connected to test scores and replaced employees throughout the 
system. A new superintendent was installed last summer.</div>
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“Challenges
 remain, for sure, but we are making progress every day, and there is 
great reason to be optimistic,” the board’s statement said.</div>
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The
 case unfolded at a time of pushback against what some see as the 
excesses of standardized testing. While the Atlanta scandal fueled some 
criticism, those who oppose testing also argue that the exams force 
teachers to narrow their lessons and may not represent what students 
learn. Coming amid a political groundswell against academic standards 
known as the Common Core, the scandal was just one factor in an 
increasing debate over testing and its role in education.</div>
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“People
 know that the test scores are flawed for a variety of reasons and that 
they cannot be relied on as the sole or primary factor to make 
high-stakes decisions,” said Robert A. Schaeffer, the public education 
director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing.</div>
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But inside the Fulton County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon, the issues of testing were decidedly more local and immediate.</div>
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“I
 don’t like to send anybody to jail,” Judge Baxter said after he ordered
 that the educators be detained until sentencing. “It’s not one of the 
things I get a kick out of. But they have made their bed, and they’re 
going to have to lie in it, and it starts today.”</div>
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Atlanta Educators Convicted in School Cheating Scandal

ATLANTA — In a dramatic conclusion to what has been described as the largest cheating scandal in the nation’s history, a jury here on...

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<a href="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://articlesoninformation.blogspot.com/" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Some Californians have cut down on watering their lawns, and others have decided to forgo greenery for native plants." data-mediaviewer-credit="Max Whittaker for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/03/us/03drought-JP/03drought-JP-superJumbo.jpg" height="219" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/03/us/03drought-JP/03drought-JP-master675.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/03/us/03drought-JP/03drought-JP-master675.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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LOS
 ANGELES —  Some Californians are already showering just once a week, 
with buckets at their feet to catch every errant drop. They are building
 rainwater tanks in their backyards and replacing their lawns with 
mesquite and desert sage. They glare at water-wasting neighbors, and 
post photographs online to “drought shame” businesses that spray down 
their sidewalks.</div>
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But
 a day after Gov. Jerry Brown announced sweeping mandatory cuts to water
 use, Californians said they worried that their efforts to scrimp and 
conserve were simply not enough in the face of a four-year drought that 
has drained reservoirs, robbed mountains of snow and raised concerns 
about an increasingly scarce and precious resource.</div>
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In Marin County, just outside San Francisco, Chas Blackford, 64, 
recently installed a $500 gray-water system that lets him use water from
 the laundry machine on the drought-resistant plants in his yard. In 
other efforts to be thrifty, he pours used pasta water onto his garden, 
shares a bath with his wife and has replaced his lawn with crushed 
granite. </div>
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“At
 this point, there is not much more we can do except be more vigilant,” 
Mr. Blackford said. He applauded Mr. Brown’s call for water agencies to 
use conservation pricing — with higher water costs, either in terms of 
rates or penalties — for bigger users.</div>
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“We need a water tax” he said.</div>
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Felicia
 Marcus, the head of the State Water Resources Control Board, said her 
board would release a proposal in about two weeks on how to achieve the 
25 percent statewide reduction in water contained in Mr. Brown’s order 
on Wednesday. Communities could be ordered to cut their water 
consumption by about 10 percent to as high as 35 percent, depending on 
their conservation efforts to date. The per capita water consumption 
rate in some communities is two or three times the state average.</div>
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Californians Who Conserved Wonder if State Can Overcome Those Who Didn’t

LOS ANGELES — Some Californians are already showering just once a week, with buckets at their feet to catch every errant drop. They a...