Cameron McWhirter & Caroline Porter:

A scandal that has enveloped the public-school system here for years is transforming how educators across the country are approaching test security, giving rise to a burgeoning industry in detecting cheating on standardized exams.

School districts from Delaware to Idaho are employing tactics such as hiring anti-cheating consultants, buying software to spot wrongdoers, and requiring testing companies to offer anti-cheating plans when seeking contracts.

“Nobody wants to be Atlanta,” said Gregory Cizek, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Education and an expert on the prevention of cheating in tests.

Opening arguments have been scheduled to begin next week in the conspiracy trial of former educators in the Atlanta school system, one of the nation’s largest. In 2011, special investigators found widespread cheating on state standardized tests by Atlanta educators. The report said teachers altered students’ answers in response to pressure from then Superintendent Beverly Hall’s administration to show an improvement in the district’s scores, or face discipline or lower pay.