11Alive News has committed its entire newsroom of journalists to covering the Atlanta Public Schools CRCT Cheating Investigation.

On this page, you'll find links to 11Alive's reporting on the investigation, school-by-school reports produced by the Governor's Special Investigators, links to the entire report and a place for you to share your thoughts.

Do you think your child was involved in cheating at an Atlanta Public School?

Do you believe a teacher or administrator "coached" your student into the correct answers, changed your students answers or otherwise encouraged your student to cheat?

Tell us you story - news@11Alive.com.

>> Thousands of children were harmed by the 2009 CRCT cheating by being denied remedial education because of their inflated CRCT scores.

>> We found cheating in 44 of the 56 schools we examined (78.6%). There were 38 principals of those 56 schools (67.9%) found to be responsible for, or directly involved in, cheating.

>> We determined that 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta Public Schools System cheated. Of the 178, 82 confessed to this misconduct. Six principals refused to answer our questions, and pled the Fifth Amendment, which, under civil law is an implied admission of wrongdoing. These principals, and 32 more, either were involved with, or should have known that, there was test cheating in their schools.

>> We empathize with those educators who felt they were pressured to cheat and commend those who were willing to tell us the truth regarding their misconduct. However, this report is not meant to excuse their ethical failings, or exonerate them from their wrongdoings.

>> The 2009 CRCT statistics are overwhelming and allow for no conclusion other than widespread cheating in APS. The BRC expert, Dr. John Fremer, wrote an op-ed article for the AJC in which he said there was widespread, organized cheating in APS.

>> The drop in 2010 CRCT erasures confirm the conclusion above.

>> Cheating occurred as early as 2001.

>> There were warnings of cheating on CRCT as early as December 2005/January 2006. The warnings were significant and clear and were ignored.

>> Cheating was caused by a number of factors but primarily by the pressure to meet targets in the data-driven environment.

>> There was a major failure of leadership throughout APS with regard to the ethical administration of the 2009 CRCT.

>> A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in APS, which created a conspiracy of silence and deniability with respect to standardized test misconduct.

>> In addition to the 2009 CRCT cheating, we found other improper conduct: several open record act violations; instances of false statements; and instances of document destruction.

The Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) are a battery of tests given in public schools across the state of Georgia to test in five subject areas: math, reading, English/language arts, social studies and science.

The tests are required of students in grades 3, 5 and 8 in order to be promoted to the next grade.

Students are scored as "meets standards," "exceeds standards" or "does not meet standards."

The CRCT is considered an important test because its results help determine whether a school makes "Annual Yearly Progress" (AYP) as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Every elementary and middle school within a school district must administer the CRCT at the same time and in the same manner, during a nine-day window. During the first five days, a different subject area is tested each day. The last four days of the window are used for make-up testing.

State law requires the test to be administered under tightly-controlled conditions. The testing materials are delivered to schools several days before testing commences. Each school designates a certified educator to be responsible for test administration in each facility.

In the Atlanta Public Schools, this person is called the testing coordinator, who ensures the test is administered according to the test protocols, but ultimately, each principal is responsible for how the test is administered in each school.

Teachers receive training on test administration that specifically sets forth how the test is given. Any deviation from the test protocols is prohibited.

In first and second grade, teachers read the test questions aloud and students answer questions in the test booklet by marking the correct answer. Teachers must read each question only twice, with no voice inflection that could suggest the answer.

Third through eighth graders read the test questions for themselves and answer questions on a separate Scantron sheet by filling in the appropriate bubble by pencil.

Each test section is timed and contains between 40 and 60 questions. Only special education students with specified accommodations may have variances in the test administration.