HIT: AR Cheating

[Leslie Starasta <lstarast@ROE51.K12.IL.US>]

Thank you to all who responded to my request for additional ideas to combat
AR cheating.  Several people asked what kind of cheating we were dealing
with.  Mostly our problems are students exchanging answers on tests with
some also reading abridged books.  My query also seemed to reignite the AR
vs. SRC/EBS discussion which I did not mean to have occur.  Here is a
compilation of the ideas which mostly involve reading logs, monitor
passwords, and limiting reading levels.

I think the best way to keep kids from cheating is to make them keep
reading logs.  In our school every student has a reading time and the
teacher keeps track of the books in their logs.  AR is only on a few
computers, in the library and in reading teacher's rooms.
Students caught cheating lose the points for that book  + punitive
points, whether you gave or got the information.
Good luck!!  Students try everything to get out of work.

I only put the program on the machines I could see.  That seemed to help the
cheating problem.

One way is to give each student a password that can only be entered by
the teacheror librarian. This way, they cannot take tests for one
another. Also, maybe have a sign-up sheet recording their name, date,
and which test they took. A quick look should give an idea of who's
doing what. I heard this from someone who uses the program. Good luck!

We are a 7th and 8th grade school that has been using AR since the Fall
of 1991.  Over the years we have experienced a lot of cheating, too, and
here are some of the things we have done that have seemed to curb the
problem somewhat:
1.  The program is networked, but we have the pathways set so that the
students may only take tests on the computer in their language arts
teacher's room (because she is the one who uses it for a grade and is
more willing to closely supervise testing).
2.  They may also test on 4 computers in the library which I can easily
supervise.
3.  We do not allow anyone to test in the library without having the
book title written in their reading folder with permission to test on
that book initialized by the teacher.
4.  Before we started using the reading folder system, we had each
testee stop at the circulation desk where they had to present the book
they were going to test on.  We wrote down their name, the title of the
book, and the date.  We required this even if it was a book they owned.
It cut down somewhat on them trying to test over books that they had
only watched on video.  I caught several kids that teachers were
suspicious of, by comparing their reading records to this sign-in
sheet.  If they weren't signed in on such & such a date, they lost
credit for that test.
No system that we have tried so far is fool-proof, and you need help to
write down the names and tests, but I have student aides who are quite
diligent with this job.  They value their library aide position and
understand that they will be removed from it immediately if ever caught
cheating or assisting anyone else to cheat.
Perhaps some of these methods, or variations of them will be helpful to
you.  Good luck!

Do you use the monitor password?  Two teachers know the monitor password and
it must be typed in before a student may take the quiz.  This is a pain for
the teacher (I am one.), but it allows me to talk the student about the book
a little too.  The monitor must make sure that the student taking the quiz
is the same name on the screen!  We give the students a due date, and they
all take the quizzes on the same date in the computer lab(if it's a grade).
Perhaps a couple of trustworthy students could be monitors as well.  Good
luck.


    One of our ninth grade teachers is trying to stay ahead of the cheating.
She does expect a certain number of points at the end of the nine weeks, but
students must have earned points by the four week point when mid term grades
go
out.  She has a notebook with a page for each student and the student must
write
the title, reading level and points possible when the book is checked out
and
then enter the points received after the test is taken.  The teacher makes
several copies of the AR test lists and marks through those titles that she
will
not accept.  Students can only take tests when she is in the library with
them
so she sees that each person is taking his own test.  At the end of the 9
weeks,
she checks the computer to see that students actually did take the tests and
receive the scores they recorded.   Good Luck, Bonnie

In our situation, students must show their student ID or they cannot take
the
test.  We allow testing in the labs only during mentoring time (we have two
teachers who monitor that) and we test in the LMC during the rest of the
week.
Mentors and other teachers with computers in their classrooms may also put
students on for tests, but they must know who the student is and the student
must be alone at the computer.  Adults MUST monitor this whole process in
order
to make it all work fairly.  Our system is on a LAN so kids can test from
almost
any computer in the school.  Adult supervision and mentoring is the key to
making this program work!

Our teachers require different things, depending on the class, but all
require a certain amount of points or a certain percentage of tests passed
at 80-90 percent. They all monitor the book level of the student, using the
student log provided by AR, and ALL students get personal attention after
testing, both from library staff and the teacher, whether they pass or fail.

We use the reading log I obtained from an AR training session, in
addition to using the teacher and monitor passwords to restrict access
to tests. Only English teachers, Resource room (Special Ed.) teachers
and the librarian and library aide are allowed to give tests. We all
check thoroughly, students must have the book and the reading log with
them at the time they take the test. We've had a few try to get around
the system, but with consistency on the part of the teachers, the
students learn to accept what they can't change!!
It takes a lot of working together...

At our middle school, due to cheating, students are
only allowed to take tests in their AR teacher's
classroom--not the library (Well, very rarely in the
media center--the student must have a written note
from the teacher.).  Students are not allowed to take
tests when there is a substitute teacher--they just
have to wait until their AR teacher returns.
Due to random trading problems (selecting the wrong
levels), we have tried to limit students from checking
out AR books during class periods other than AR. Logs
are monitored during AR checkout.  Then, too, with
approximately 200 students it gets easy to remember
the students' reading levels.  Books are kept in the
elementary manner: color coded and placed by grade
level sections. Everyone has AR first period.
Also, the monitor password is changed at each faculty
meeting--approximately each month.  Passwords are
chosen to stump the students--few vowels / letters
spread across the keyboard / words which may not be
familiar to students.
Students still try to bust individual passwords, but
the incidents are decreasing.  The AR Coordinator
routinely clears the settings.

We had a lot of trouble with cheating, also.  The English teachers
decided to require students show the book to prove they had it to
read before taking a test.  All testing is done in the LMC.  Students
sign their name and the test name they are taking on a tablet before going
to the computer.  A monitor password is needed before the student can
get into the test.  We check name and signature. Other students may
not sit near the person taking the test.  No paper or pencil is
allowed while taking the test.  Students don't mind taking a test for
someone
else, but do seem to have scrupples about signing someone else's name.
If you have student picture ID's, that would be good. We don't have
them.  Also, we have over 3,000 tests which really spreads who is
taking a test on what.  I'm sure there's still some cheating going
on, but we have made it considerable harder for those compelled to
not read and pick up points when they haven't read.

Again thank you so much for your suggestions.  I found that many of them we
are already implementing but need to do more.

Leslie Starasta, Librarian
Auburn Jr.High and High School
Auburn, IL 62615
(217) 438-6817
<lstarast@roe51.k12.il.us

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