APS cheating: Is the real scandal the intense focus on testing?

Atlanta Public Schools is attempting to provide academic help to students affected by the cheating scandal in which teachers and administrators changed scores on state exams to improve their school's standing.

But are those students the only ones who need help?

Writing in the AJC Get Schooled blog, local teacher blogger J. Marcus Patton says, "… many, many students who need extra help are not qualified for the program because they were unlucky enough to have had teachers who didn't change their answers on standardized tests when they were in elementary school. This tragic mess was mismanaged from the beginning. It was created in an environment in which test scores have become the unquestioned standard of measurement in education – pushing aside all data about the quality of the learning experience."