"A Culture of Cheating"

That is how one student at Severna Park High School in Maryland calls the atmosphere, and there is little enforcement from the administration:

Peter Thompson calls it his "baptism by fire" at Severna Park High School: In ninth grade, a classmate snatched a test paper from his desk and passed it around the classroom. Teachers and administrators didn't punish anyone after he and his family complained, Thompson said.

The junior, ranked first in the school of 1,700 students, said he has seen plenty of other incidents of cheating since then, but nothing like one earlier this month: At least one student allegedly stole away to a bathroom with a sealed booklet of essay questions for the Advanced Placement American history exam and, with two friends, scoured a review manual for answers.

Now, the College Board, which developed the test, is investigating, and all 45 students in that testing group have to retake the exam Thursday.

But that wasn't enough for Thompson and a group of other top-ranked students. They're so outraged at what they view as rampant cheating at the school that they surveyed their peers last week and plan to press the principal today to discipline the cheaters and adopt stricter test proctoring rules.

"Anyone who doesn't think there's a culture of cheating here is either oblivious or blind," said Thompson. "Ranks and GPAs here are meaningless."

Reports of this single incident - and students' outcry that it is part of a widespread problem - have rocked this exclusive community just north of Annapolis, where homes command higher prices because of the lauded high school, which consistently leads the county in state test scores.

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Lax oversight during tests and classwork, students say, has fueled cheating in a school that vows with banners over the front door and over public address announcements to become "the No. 1 School in Maryland."

In results to be shared with Principal James Hamilton today, 69 percent of the students who responded to the survey Friday said they felt that a culture of cheating exists at the school. About 50 percent of the roughly 300 who responded estimated that up to half the student body cheats and felt that teachers didn't hold enough power to stop cheaters.

"Some teachers do not allow any form of cheating and offer extreme punishments for anyone caught cheating, but on the other hand, some teachers do not say ANYTHING or pay attention at all to students when they are taking tests or to monitor students during tests to prohibit cheating," wrote Kathryn Muha, a junior at the school who said she saw the May 11 cheating. "Students are rarely punished and if anything happens to them, they are simply warned not to cheat again, or else."

The College Board is investigating, but their impact will be limited to the AP test. The fact that the school's leadership has permitted this perception, let alone reality, says a great deal. At the very least, the entire school leadership and teaching corps needs to be examined throughly and very harsh punishments handed down for allowing this culture to grow and flourish.

Read the whole article for an example of what is wrong in Severna Park.