Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, we analyze quantitative administrative and survey data and qualitative archival data to examine the organizational character of standardized test cheating among educators in Georgia elementary schools. Applying a theoretical typology that identifies distinct forms of rule breaking in bureaucratic organizations, we find that teacher-focused, individual-level explanations for cheating are inadequate, particularly in the context of large-scale cheating outbreaks. Our findings suggest cheating scandals tend to arise when rule-breaking decisions shift toward higher levels of the educational bureaucracy, and school and district leaders enact multiple strategies to motivate coordinated cheating efforts among lower-level educators. In these scenarios, a “bad apples” explanation focused on rogue teachers fails to account for the systematic organizational underpinnings of standardized test cheating. We describe the institutional and organizational predictors of organized adult cheating on standardized tests, and we conclude with a discussion of our findings’ implications for education policy and research.

使用解释性顺序混合方法设计，我们分析了定量的行政和调查数据以及定性的档案数据，以检验乔治亚州小学教育工作者中标准化考试作弊的组织特征。通过运用一种理论类型学来识别官僚组织中不同的破坏规则形式，我们发现以教师为中心的，个人层面的作弊解释是不够的，尤其是在大规模作弊事件中。我们的研究结果表明，当违反规则的决策转向更高层次的教育官僚机构时，欺诈丑闻往往会出现，并且学校和地区领导者制定了多种策略来激励低级教育者之间的协同作弊工作。在这些情况下，针对流氓教师的“坏苹果”解释无法解释标准化考试作弊的系统性组织基础。我们描述了在标准化考试中有组织的成年人作弊的制度和组织预测因素，并以讨论结果对教育政策和研究的意义进行了讨论。