CANDICE NORWOOD
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ATLANTA — After more than five years of controversy and five months of testimony, a prosecutor used seven words on Monday to recap the accusations against the dozen Atlanta educators seated in a courtroom here.“They cheated,” the prosecutor, John E. Floyd, told the jurors in Fulton County Superior Court. “They lied. And they stole.”Mr. Floyd’s scornful summary came near the start of what will be days of closing arguments centered on whether significant increases in standardized test scores in Atlanta’s public schools came about because of endemic cheating and what prosecutors say was criminal misconduct that included racketeering. The trial, set up by a March 2013 indictment, as well as a state-commissioned report and a series of articles published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, could lead to decades in prison for the defendants.Read the rest of this story at The New York Times
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By Matt Precey-Stress levels among teachers in England’s classrooms are soaring, a BBC investigation has found.Unions are blaming workload for large numbers of staff taking time off work or leaving the profession.Insurance industry data suggests stress is the biggest cause of staff absence save for maternity.The Department for Education insists it is working “to tackle the issue of unnecessary workload which we know can lead to stress”.The BBC has also seen a survey of 3,500 members of the Nasuwt teaching union which shows more than two-thirds of respondents considered quitting the profession in the past year. Read the rest of the story at BBC News
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Outreach aims to temper any backlash over tests aligned with the common coreBy Andrew UjifusaEven as states begin administering new tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, they are ramping up efforts to eliminate or minimize public backlash when the scores—widely expected to be markedly lower than results from previous assessments—are released later this year.From old-fashioned fliers designed to reach parents via students’ backpacks to webinars intended for administrators and teachers, states including Illinois and New Jersey are using a diverse set of resources and partnering with various groups to prepare school communities and the general public for what’s coming.Read the rest of the story at Education Week
