The Atlanta school system, plagued by a widespread test-cheating scandal that led to criminal charges and convictions, will strengthen its rules on changing students’ grades.
Meria Carstarphen, the district’s superintendent, asked for a report this summer when an internal investigation found that a high school principal changed more than 100 student grades from failing to passing with “scant justification,” according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Over the past year, the school system has completed eight reviews of suspicious grade-change activity.
Under the new regulations, administrators have to complete several steps before a grade can be changed. For one, school registrars will need to make an official request for a grade change, which has to be approved by the principal and associate superintendent.