Cheating on the AP exam

As a teacher, I am always paranoid about following rules and regulation when it comes to formal testing like the AIMS test or any type of test that we have to give to our students that is state mandated. Recently, I read an article about a high school in California who was accused of cheating on the AP exam.  I was shocked that the some of the kids were able to cheat on this exam because at a conference I attended  in California we talked about this.  I can not believe that some of the proctors were sleeping, reading, or left the room.  What they should have been doing was walking around the room and monitoring the students and making sure that they had nothing on their desk except their test and writing utensils. 

In the article it talks about how some kids confessed to cheating by texting the answers to each other.  Because of this allegation of cheating, all  385 student’s score has been nullified.  It is true that it is unfair to the kids who are innocent. However, I have to agree with the  zero tolerance policy  that is mandated by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service when it comes to this issue.  If the College Board gives in and reinstate the scores for the innocent party then other kids might get the wrong message which is, it’s okay to cheat because you will only get your hands slapped!  Like I said it is unfair to those innocent kids who abided by the rules, but it is necessary to keep the integrity of the test.  Shame on the cheaters for “punishing” the other students!

A couple of weeks ago, at my AP conference, my instructor, was telling us about how the Educational Testing Service ( the company who writes  the AP Tests) spends millions of dollars to guard the integrity and secrecy of the AP test.  I find it ironic that a couple of kids from California has been able to show how easy it is to cheat on the test with the help of technology. 

Why do kids feel it necessary to cheat on test?  It is sad that a handful can ruin the validity of the test scores.

If you would like to read the article click on this link: http://chronicle.com/news/article/4814/students-and-parents-in-calif-protest-after-ap-test-scores-are-canceled