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After using a sophisticated data analysis to expose anomalous gains on standardized tests in Atlanta Public Schools - anomalies that were shown in 2011 to signal cheating at 44 schools - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution set out in late 2011 to apply its analysis to school test scores nationwide. The resulting investigative series used ground-breaking data analysis and documents that were buried deep in education bureaucrats' files to show that cheating by educators was happening around the nation - clustered largely in urban districts that were under intense pressure to perform in the wake of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. The newspaper built a database no one had compiled since NCLB took effect: All standardized-test scores, spanning as many years as available, for 69,000 U.S. elementary and middle schools.