The "L" and "C" words you never say to a parent

     First, let me say that this is a happy ending...sort of.
      I learned years ago as a teacher that you will live a lot longer if you never use the terms "lie" or "cheat" to a parent about their  child. Many, if not most, parents believe wholeheartedly that their child will not tell them a direct bold-faced lie and that although their child might leave his socks on the floor he will not cheat because they have spent every Sabbath consistently taking their child to temple/church/mosque which has innoculated their child against the moral failure of cheating.

      Now, to the point of this blog. Like most high schools, my school has an Honor Code published in the the Student Handbook and re-published dutifully by every teacher in their syllabus which is mindlessly signed by every parent and sent back to school to be filed away just in case... One would think that the tenets of the Honor Code are pretty clear and straightforward. Don't copy someone else's work and don't give them yours. Cite all sources on reports, don't forge your parent's name on  report cards. If you do  one of these things the HONOR CODE VIOLATION will be applied and will ruin any hope you ever had of getting into HVAC school, Harvard or running for public office. Still, last week I found that the similarity ratingfrom Turnitin.com on the final exam portfolio for a handful of my AP students was 57% or higher. Two of them were 95% or more! We had expected some similarity in that the students would proabably just cut and paste all the questions for the portfolio so we set 40% as the generous allowance for similarity. The vast majority came in a 1-5%. Considering that I discovered this on the day before the last day of school I had to fire off a bunch of e-mails to students to tell them to get their rear ends in to see me on the last day of school for an explanation. It was easy for me to tell whose paper was identical. That is one of the benefits of using Turnitin. Even if it wasn't my student, it allowed me to send a request to the other teacher to see the paper for comparison purposes. Since there are only two of us teaching this course, it was easy to narrow down the possibilities.

     So why would a bunch of bright, talented AP students feel the need to cheat on a final exam project? The reasons varied, "I was helping a friend who was having a hard time with it", "We thought if each of us did a portion and then exchanged the information, it was collaboration, not cheating", to the one girl who said she just ran out of time and asked a friend in the other teacher's class to send her his project, and he did without a moment's hesitation. She simply uploaded his entire project with her name on it. I was actually stunned that when confronted with the blazing red text (Turnitin highlights all the identical text in different colors for each source copied) they did not attempt to lie, they just told me the truth. When it dawned on them that this was the dreaded HONOR CODE VIOLATION and would result in a zero grade that represents 15% of their overall grade for the course, needless to say, my floor was washed in tears on Friday...both from boys as well as girls. All begged for forgiveness, allow them to re-do the project etc. etc. I made them wait all through the week-end for an answer. I told them I was going to the administration for a ruling but there would definitely be a parent-teacher-student-adminstrator meeting in the week after school let out. I would like to think that over the week-end there were more tears and bargaining with God, Allah and Yahweh for deliverance.

     On Monday I called or e-mailed all the parents requesting a meeting on Tuesday with myself and an administrator. I knew this would amp up the tension a bit, not necessarily a bad thing. Now, before you criticize this strategy let me interject that last year many of these same students were involved in a cheating activity where they created a Facebook page, posted an essay that every student copied and printed out and turned in for an English assignment. The teacher issued Honor Code violations but the county rescinded all them after a parent outcry saying that perhaps the teacher hadn't been clear that this was an independent assignment!

     So, on Tuesday I set up my computer and opened the door. Each interview went the same way-I explained to the student and parent how Turnitin works and that Turnitin is used in nearly all the colleges. I showed them their paper and how it turned completely red in the parts that were identical to someone else's paper. I showed them how I knew who they got the paper from and that even if their cousin in India had turned in an identical paper that I would be able to see that too. All thoughts of arguing or making a case dropped dead on the floor. Then I pulled out the Honor Code with my extended explanations and examples on the bottom and reviewed it thoroughly with the student. The student would sign the explanation acknowledging that they had been given an opportunity to thoroughly understand all parts of the Honor Code. This paper will be in their permanent file for the next two years they spend in the high school. If EVER an Honor Code violation is suspected in the next two years the administrator will pull out this signed acknowledgment and the Honor Code violation will go into the computer to be recorded on transcripts going to colleges. If nothing happens regarding Honor Code violations in the next two years, the paper will be thrown away when they walk across the stage at graduation.

      As for the grade, I had already entered a zero grade for the final exam. For some this took them from a B to a failing grade for the semester. For others they went from an A to a C, a fate worse than death to an AP student. However, I offered them an opportunity to do an alternative assignment and turn it in over the summer. I would grade it and then submit a grade change form. The only thing colleges ask for is a final transcript, not report cards so the  current grade is only temporary.

      Some people would think they got off easy. I think they were, for the most part genuinely shaken and perhaps the lesson was learned. If I had brought the full punishment down it would have been too big of a hit for a sophomore who is still making "age-appropriate misbehaviors".

    What do you think?