FIX 4

Questions to Ponder

How can we deal with academic dishonesty while still reporting the students level of achievement (the grade) accurately?

Does a low grade/zero grade for cheating encourage or discourage a student's learning?

FPS Staff Commentary

Colleen Stamm - Warner Middle School

I struggled with this fix. I always used to give a zero when academic dishonesty (cheating) occurred. When I reflected though, I realized just because cheating occurred it doesn't mean a student doesn't understand some of a concept or maybe even mastered it. Academic dishonesty is a behavior. Should it belong in a grade? Sometimes, I found my high achieving students had more incidences of academic dishonesty because of pressure to get good grades. So I wanted to provide another opportunity to show mastery and dealt with the academic dishonesty as a behavior instead of a level of understanding.