From US News: Education online: Promoting an ethical school culture by Jason Kobler, 10th August 2011
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As Atlanta and other school districts across the U.S. deal with the aftermath of cheating scandals, many school officials are looking for ways to clean things up.
State standardized tests in many areas of the country are surfacing with a higher-than-normal amount of erasures, suggesting teachers altered answers after students had turned in the exams.
Jason Stephens and David Wangaard, executive director of the nonprofit School for Ethical Education, created a toolkit for administrators to help create a culture where cheating—by both students and teachers—isn't tolerated. I talked to Wangaard about his book, Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity, and what Atlanta can do to clean up its reputation.
His book is focused on preventing students from cheating on assignments and tests. According to a survey conducted by Wangaard, 95 percent of students at four New England-area high schools admitted to cheating in the past year.
[Learn why cheating students are likely to overestimate their intelligence.]
Wangaard says the first step schools should take is to implement an ethics committee that will devise a code of morals for the school. "It should be a standing committee that never goes away," he says. "We're not looking at how to police cheating more effectively. The main goal is to highlight and promote a life of academic rigor, integrity, and values that promote learning."
Still, Wangaard is realistic. "This problem will never be fixed completely," he says.
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