I see cheating as a serious problem in my district as well. As a science department we have completely stopped giving back tests. It had come to our attention that PARENTS were selling their children’s tests to other parents. I hear of students selling their binders to students who will be taking the same class the next year for money. The district that I teach in is an affluent district and a very high-performing district. There is a lot of pressure put on students to perform without regard in how they must get there. So how can we as educators combat the cheating that we see everyday? I have my own methods, but they are not a failsafe. I have multiple versions of the homework that I hand out with students’ names at the top so that there is no swapping versions (very much like online homework, but without the cost). I have multiple versions of quizzes and tests. Yes, this is a lot more work, but it cuts down the cheating. Does this completely eliminate it? No, but it makes it much harder to cheat. Some of my students will tell me “It’s too much work to find someone with the same version, it’s easier to do the homework”. I am sure there is still cheating, because I catch it when someone copies from a different version. Thankfully, our administration is also aware of the cheating problem and backs the teacher almost every time.
Lindsay, I agree with you that there needs to be a cultural change. When a student cheats in my class, my relationship with that student is immediately changed and the student sees it along with the rest of the class. I let them know from day one that I will block them from National Honor Society, I will not write them a letter of recommendation for anything, and they will never earn my trust back. I know that it may seem harsh and it is hard for me as well, but change isn’t easy. I don’t know if what I do truly makes a difference in the long run, but at least my students see that there are consequences for their actions and think twice about doing it in my class.