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The root of cheating

nick cowen, 27 July 2007

The call to scrap GCSE coursework takes on a new resonance in light of the most recent evidence. An investigation for BBC Radio Five Live, conducted by the Teacher Support Network, has shown that the pressures on schools to raise results has led to widespread cheating.


The Times Education Supplement (TES) today tells us that 68% of the 117 teachers surveyed in Five Live’s online poll admitted that they had helped their students ‘…more than was appropriate’ in order to raise results. One of the surveyed teachers told the BBC that his school had leant on him to achieve at least a C grade to such a degree that he had actually resorted to telling his pupils what to write. Another teacher is reported as having kept ready-made answers for staff to insert into pupils’ coursework. Anecdotal evidence, as well as some more robust documented evidence (for example, as discussed in Warwick Mansell’s brilliant new book Education by Numbers), tells us that this type of cheating is so widespread that it has come to be regarded as quite normal in schools. Teachers reading about the survey probably wonder why the results are even newsworthy. So why is all this cheating going on? Firstly, there is the fact that cheating is a possibility, something which changes to coursework guidelines are hoped to tackle when they are introduced in 2009. However as the TES comments, ‘it is not clear that serious measures will be taken to stop teachers bending the rules. They are likely still to be supervising, marking and authenticating assignments’. But the second and seemingly far more important issue is why are teachers finding it necessary to cheat? One explanation is that they are being asked to do the impossible. The C grade is incredibly important for schools, because it keeps their scores within the ‘good’ range of A*-C; the more ‘good’ grades, the better the school’s league table ranking. It is indeed possible that teachers are being asked to make weak pupils make a good grade – a minimum C – which correlates with the series of fairly recent ‘initiatives’, from official spoon-feeding for exams to lowering pass-marks, in the bid to raise achievement. Really it is this part of the equation – the attempt to raise achievement regardless of abilities and learning – which is most likely to be the greatest contributor to a prevalence of cheating. The best answer to the problem at hand therefore, is not so much cheat-proof assignments as a focus on the policies which are disabling a real increase in achievement.
Anastasia de Waal

3 comments on “The root of cheating”

  1. Cheating remains ungodly,undue,unfair and very bad!When students do it alone,it is bad!When it is done in collaboration with the Teachers it teribly bad!When it is now done with the Students,Teachers and the Parents signatures,it is worst,yet we see this hapning in the developed not to talk of the developing countries.May GOD help us to go back to the fear of GOD.We need the revival of the Spirit of godliness with contentment.However,we need to give more opportuinity to average students who are not cheating.Let us institute schorlarship awards for good, average,above average students who are honest,lest many of them join the club of unchecked cheaters.For cheaters who are found ,let people hear of the punishments/sanctions given to them as this wiil deter others.May GOD help us from the syndicate of professional cheaters in our educational systems

  2. The push for Grade C’s and above can alter a teacher’s pay review. If, as a teacher, you find that you are not supported when trying to include disruptive behaviour but you are forced into following coursework syllabi that are designed for academic teaching you have a real problem. Just ‘telling them the answer’ has worked brilliantly with challenging classes and a twelve year reduction in the academic content of courses. In science in particular if you actually want pupils to try and think for themselves you immediately encourage poorer classroom behaviour – and this is the case for a variety of reasons. There are also teacher performance management measures called ‘residuals’ which give a quantitative measure of how well pupils perform for a particular teacher compared with how they perform with all teachers. This system has been massively abused as it encourages classroom management skills that coach pupils for the exam by rote learning (telling) – which has its place but is the opposite of what the academics have tried to promote (especially in science). It is then a very small step to tell more than just what is required in coursework. I know because I have achieved very high residuals and understand the cost, one example being a costly reduction in indpendent learning skills which become apparent when pupils move onto A levels.
    Over the past twelve years political correctness has replaced class division as modus-operandi for the teaching establishment but has failed to address the key issue of behaviour and standards. Pupils are required to have aspirations but there are now never any consequences for indiscipline – a fact that youth workers on the streets of London and Manchester understand. Even in ‘good’ comprehensives the standards are lowered to accommodate the inclusion of disruptive children (and the effect they have on the learning of others). Why do people stand for it? Mostly because if they are in a position to effect change they can afford private education and therefore don’t!

  3. It’s a classic Prisoners Dilemma.
    If you are brave and don’t cheat, then your marks will go down, even though it will be what the pupils deserve, and you’ll get hammered. If you cheat, you won’t.
    The Govt will do nothing that gives a serious representation of the state of education.
    As for the 68% statistic, assuming the question was asked of those taking GCSE classworks, this means that 32% of teachers are embarrassed enough to lie about it, or are deluded about what is “appropriate”.
    In a situation where everyone cheats and nobody bothers to check, not cheating is not an option.

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