An uncertain, troubling legacy

Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall leaves an uncertain legacy. Was she an inspirational leader who asked too much of educators inadequate to the challenge? Or did she set unrealistic goals and then ignore blatant evidence employees were cheating to comply? Even worse, did Hall conceal the evidence so as not to sully her national reputation as a visionary leader?

One distinct outcome of the 11-year Hall era at APS: No one will accept remarkable soars in test scores at face value any longer.

Hall's last years were spent fighting both cancer and charges of racketeering and conspiracy related to what became the nation's largest test-cheating scandal. While she garnered accolades for her condemnation of the tyranny of low expectations for poor children, Hall stood accused of her own form of tyranny.

Under what they described as unrelenting pressure to push up test scores, dozens of APS educators resorted to cheating on the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, ranging from subtle prompts to students during testing to cheating "parties" where educators erased wrong answers.

A 2009 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation uncovered troubling test disparities in APS schools, prompting Gov. Sonny Perdue to order an unprecedented statewide review of erasure rates on all state answer sheets. The review found excessive numbers of wrong-to-right changes at 58 Atlanta schools —- more than two-thirds of the district’s elementary and middle schools.

The probe led to indictments and now a trial — but one that has proceeded without its most polarizing figure. Due to her terminal illness, the 68-year-old Hall did not stand trial.

Thus far, no testimony at the trial points to Hall directly ordering anyone to cheat. In a statement, Hall’s attorneys noted, “Even after millions of dollars, hundreds of witnesses and interviews, and a review of thousands upon thousands of emails, not a single witness has said, nor a single email demonstrated, that Dr. Hall ordered, directed, or participated in cheating.”

Rather, the testimony depicts a school leader on a mission to improve schools. And improvement came. Atlanta’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress rose. Atlanta still trailed the national average, but its students were moving ahead at a faster clip than peers in other urban systems.

Foundations flocked to Atlanta bearing awards for Hall, including National Superintendent of the Year in 2009. Delighted with the progress APS was showing, Hall set a higher and higher bar.

And that’s where it all went wrong.

Schools created war rooms to chart the successes and failures of individual teachers. Scores on the CRCT rose, but amid growing concerns the increases were suspicious. Evidence shows Hall ignored whistle blowers who expressed doubts. Their misgivings were rebuffed, even punished. She suppressed a statistical analysis APS commissioned that validated findings of questionable test scores by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Even faced with the scathing state findings, Hall told the AJC in a 2011 meeting she was not convinced. “As hard as it for people to believe, the research is very clear that when children are taught effectively, when teachers use appropriate strategies, when there are high expectations and a lot of support, children do improve and some of them improve dramatically, and just the fact they’ve improved dramatically doesn’t mean we need to say somebody cheated.”