Atlanta test cheating report delayed again

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The special panel investigating Atlanta Public Schools called off Tuesday's release of its much-anticipated findings -- the second such delay -- and the committee's chairman said Monday it could be several more weeks before the investigation is complete.

Gary Price, chairman of the independent panel formed to look into irregularities on state standardized tests at city schools, said last week the committee would release major findings and recommendations Tuesday, although he said then that the full report would not be complete by today. But on Monday, a statement from Price indicated that even the summary isn't ready.

He did not offer a specific timeline for release of the investigation's results but said the group's investigators need more time to complete their work.

"We do not wish to sacrifice accuracy for speed by adhering to an arbitrary, self-imposed release date," said Price.

"We know that various stakeholders and the media are anxious to see our final conclusions. And we are eager to share them," Price said. "However, because people's careers and reputations are at stake in an investigation such as this one, we want to exercise all due diligence as we finalize every detail of our report."

Price's committee will still meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday to discuss its three-month inquiry, which started after a state audit found unusual patterns of erasures last year on the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests. The tests, taken by students in first through eighth grade, help determine whether schools meet federal benchmarks.

Georgia officials ordered investigations at 191 schools statewide -- including 58 in Atlanta. The city had the most schools flagged in any system, more than two-thirds of its public elementary and middle schools. It is the last of 34 school systems to complete its investigation, which is being overseen by a 15-member panel of city business and community leaders.

The committee initially expected to release its report June 16 but delayed for the same reason Price gave on Monday: to give investigators more time. Price told the AJC last week that 100 city school employees at 12 schools will be referred but did not detail the violations, which could range from inadvertently breaking test security rules to outright cheating.

He has also declined to name the schools where these employees work, although school names will be included in the report, he said.