Report: Atlanta school CRCT cheating not deliberate

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An outside investigator looking into allegations of CRCT cheating at Atlanta’s Deerwood Academy said in a report released Friday afternoon that “irregularities were the result of negligence and record keeping, lack of energy and diligence in following the rules rather than deliberate attempts to alter test answers.”

The report appears to exonerate Deerwood’s principal, Lisa Smith, while placing most of the blame on testing coordinators Tabeeka Jordan and site administrator Lavonia Ferrell.

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. about the investigation, which came after a preliminary state audit flagged students CRCT retest scores at Deerwood. Three other schools in Georgia were also implicated. Officials at those schools have admitted problems with the CRCT retests.