I honestly don’t remember a lot of cheating going on when I was in high school. There were some “urban legends” about some unknown kid who took Mr. So-and-sos final test key off his desk or whatever. For the most part, students in my school were pretty ethical.
Since beginning my career on the opposite side of the teacher’s desk, I’ve caught students cheating relatively often. I’ve ran into the cheat sheet, copied worksheets, or one student taking an AR test for another. According to this article, even as far back as 1993 eighty nine percent of high school students thought that cheating as common and seventy eight percent had cheated.
Apparently in this age of technology, cheating has gone high tech. This article tells about a school in Ohio that canceled the graduation ceremony after uncovering a widespread cheating operation. Teachers’ computers were accessed in order to print and distribute tests.
Since the administration found it impossible to know who actually cheated, who knew it was happening but didn’t report it and who had no idea, they canceled graduation. Here’s the kicker- they mailed the diplomas. Parents, of course, are protesting and holding their own “unofficial” graduation.
I guess I don’t know what I would do as school administrator in this situation. I think that the “punishment” here was ridiculous. What about the student who really didn’t cheat or know anything about it? Now he or she doesn’t get to graduate? That doesn’t seem fair. Or think of the students that cheated. They still get a diploma? Where’s the justice in that? What about a kid who knew it was going on but feared the consequences if his peers knew he ratted them out? There are a lot of different situations to be considered here.
When I was in 4th grade, I had a teacher who often disciplined the entire class for the wrongdoing of one or two students. How frustrating it was to be a student in her classroom! This website calls the method of punishing the entire class a “Teacher Caused Discipline Problem.” And yet this Ohio school has done just that.
It may be tough to investigate such a cheating scheme, but I think this school owes it to the students to get to the bottom of it. This may be one of the most important lessons the school could offer its students. Instead, these students will get a diploma in the mailbox, whether they cheated or not.
Heather, I don't want to burst your balloon but I'd be surprised if there wasn't cheating at your old school as well. As an honest person, you probably just hung out with other honest people and never saw or heard of it. I have seen few schools where cheating didn't occur at least relatively often.
ReplyDeleteIt also goes more high tech than what that story relates. Kids are texting each other answers during tests. It's really incredible - we caught a number of kids doing it this year. So our kids are smart and they apply themselves to problems but the problems are how to cheat in a new and better way. Here's the sad thing though. After we caught these kids and were going to do the sensible thing and ban cell phones from school, guess who raised a stink? yes, the parents. The parents treated our reasonable attempt to stop cheating as some sort of incredible insult to their kids and an intrusion on their rights. yes, that is how shallow and ignorant (forgive the course word but it is the only one that hits it just right)some of these people were - they claimed their kids had a right to bring a cell phone into not just school, but class. They even fought having the kids turn them off during class. It's no wonder these kids are the way they are when parents do things like that. It is just so symbolic of what we run into all of the time - parents who raise heck everytime you do anything - literally - to their child. they automatically and instantly side with their child, even when they don't know what happened, they blame teachers for bad grades rather than the kids. Again, as aggrevating as the kids get sometimes I don't blame them most of the time. I blame their parents.
Finally, here's the final thing. kids cheated when I was a kid but there was the belief it was wrong. Kids felt guilty when they got caught. Not today. Kids don't seem to feel any remorse or guilt when they get caught. In fact they often don't seem to think they did anything wrong and there is no remorse at all.
Cheating...this is a topic but one that I am sure every school faces. Personally I can say that I never really cheated on a test. I did see many other kids doing it though. The little pieces of paper that they would write on and tuck into their shirt cuff. Finally I saw some teachers letting students create small cheat sheets for tests. The most clever cheat sheet was one that was printed upside down on a student’s shirt so that during the test they could look down and read their notes. This was an open note quiz but it was a cute idea. Anyway...cheating is something that I don't think will ever go away. Kids seem to think that they have a right to do it if a teacher is mean to them, the class is hard, or their parents cheated. In regards to your article about the graduation being cancelled I think it is completely ridiculous. I would be so upset if I could not graduate because of the actions of someone else. This is not something that they have been working for one year but 12. Wow!
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the cancellation of the graduation ceremony in this case but I'm not sure the district had any other choice. If they couldn't prove who cheated and who didn't how do they punish anyone? Should they just say "good for you guys, we can't prove who did what so we will carry on business as usual". I think what they are trying to do is send a message to underclassmen that this will not be tolerated. If they fear losing their ceremony, maybe they will turn in the culprits. Cheating happened when I was in school and I'm ashamed to admit I participated. I'm not proud of it and I knew it was wrong. I think we as teachers need to stress integrity and doing the right thing when others aren't watching. We have these talks with our basketball team quite a bit and unfortunately, one of our other coaches has been modeling poor behavior to our players. If we do the old "do as I say not as I do" motto, we have no credibility and kids don't take us serious. Teaching in a private school allows us to have much more severe punishments for things such as cheating. I think schools as a whole need some severe punishments regarding cheating rather than just a slap on the wrist leading kids to just figure out how not to get caught next time.
ReplyDeleteI recall a lot of cheating going on when I went to school. Students lined the lockers copying their English vocabulary homework. Cheat sheets were commonly inserted into the backing of calculators as well.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I am noticing about the same amount. I frequently notice very similar answers on worksheets. I have yet to catch a student cheating on one of my tests. I am sure it is happened. There has been more than one occasion when a student has acted like the cat that ate the canary.
I am willing to bet the statistics are as high or higher than a decade ago. The number will only rise with the increased availability of digital technology. What was really appalling was that a fifth of parents thought doing a child’s homework was okay. Where in the world does this mentality come from? I know of a paraprofessional in our school that does a lot of her son’s homework. Her son goes to a neighboring school. I don’t have children but it seems to me that there our nation has a huge parenting problem.
I agree that the principle of collective punishment is detrimental. I realized very early on that trying to squeeze the troublemakers by pressuring the whole class was a mistake. Why alienate the students that are on your side. I definitely treat things on a case by case basis.
The teacher caused discipline article is fantastic. Students know automatically when you are being artificial. My first year teaching I coached track and field. I knew very little of the sport. Our head coach said “fake it into you make it.” He was essentially saying to sell whatever you are saying until you have the technique down. If you believe in what you are teaching or coaching the students will get it. The will soak it up like a sponge. When I am in a good mood, telling lively stories or even being a little bit sarcastic the students mirror my demeanor. When I am down in the dumps they reciprocate my actions. Teaching is an array of conscious, verbal communication intermixed with unconscious, nonverbal demeanor. I have also found that the best way to minimize discipline problems is to command respect. To command respect you have to be a knowledgeable, caring, professional.
Cheating was a problem for me during my summer school session. I would find students getting the same answers wrong with the same answer as well. So, for the final test, I made it only 10 questions long. These questions were essay ones that would require some critical thinking on the parts of the students. It took many of the students 1 hr. to complete this test. Those that figured out there was no way to cheat on this test handed it in much sooner. It really gave me an arrurate picture of who listened in class and who didn't.
ReplyDeleteHallway cheating is the worst at our school. Kids copying homework thinking no one will notice. I do the cheater check before any major test they have to empty their pockets, pull up their sleeves etc. But I also feel I may have become a bit jaded in the fact that I do what I can to stop it in my room but I don't know that I go as far as I could to prevent everywhere else it may be happening. How do we as teacher's decide when the battle is worth carrying arms over? Don't misunderstand I don't ever think cheating is ok, but I have somewhat come to believe that a student cheating and not doing the work themself really only comes back to hurt them in the end.
ReplyDeleteI had the most issue with cheating on homework assignments. If I found assignments with the same answers wrong, same answers right, and the students in question were friends, I would have a chat with them and then keep them after school to do the assignment individually if it was a first offense, second offenses received a zero, but rarely did I have any issue beyond the first offense. Parents also got a phone call. I never had any issue on tests. I would walk the classroom during test taking which probably made it difficult for students to cheat for fear of being caught.
ReplyDeleteOnly once have I turned in a cheater and that was on a final exam in college. A classmate had printed out a cheatsheet in small type and kept it hidden beneath his blue book as he wrote his essays. He sat behind another student to be out of sight of the professor. I was upset by this and waited in the prof's office and told him what I had seen. The student was made to redo the test as the professor only had my word and therefore couldn't give him a zero or turn him in to academics. While I felt that was a satisfactory punishment, I was upset that this student had put me in the position of "snitching". I lost all respect for that person afterward.