Federal authorities are investigating to determine if Atlanta’s public schools committed fraud by boosting scores on standardized tests.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday that federal authorities had begun conducting interviews and may soon issue subpoenas for documents related to the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test. The newspaper quoted officials familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an open investigation.

The test is one of the measures used to determine whether schools are meeting standards mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Atlanta, Patrick Crosby, declined to comment.

Tags: fraud, Atlanta Public Schools, standardized tests, Federal Authorities, No Child Left Behind Act, Patrick Crosby