Stuyvesant High School caught in cheating scandal on Regents exams

<p>Now that school is back in session, e-mail was sent to DOE employees regarding situation at Stuyvesant:</p>

<p>Stuyvesant High School stepped up its zero tolerance policy on cell phones after a text-message cheating scandal.</p>

<p>Stuyvesant High School teachers are cracking down on cheating and the citywide ban on cell phones in school in the wake of an embarrassing, text-message-aided cheating scandal.</p>

<p>Stuy’s new principal, Jie Zhang, has zero tolerance for cheats and cell phones, said students, who were the subject of the stepped up enforcement Thursday, the first day of school.</p>

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<p>School has also implemented a honor code, which must be signed by all students and their parents.</p>

<p>Examples of academic dishonesty include:
•Presenting the ideas of others (either by paraphrasing or direct quotation) without giving credit to the source. This applies equally to a single phrase or an entire essay.
•Using secondary sources, even for research, if a teacher has instructed students not to do so.
•Failing to provide adequate citations for material obtained through online sources.
•Copying from someone else’s exam, paper, homework or lab.
•Allowing someone to copy or submit one’s work as his/her own.
•Using notes or other materials (including cell phones, calculators, computers, etc.) during an exam withoutauthorization.
•Submitting the same paper in more than one course without the knowledge and approval of the instructors involved.
•Knowingly participating in a group project which presents plagiarized materials.
•Giving answers to exam questions to another student or receiving answers to exam questions from another student.</p>

<p>Is 10 days of suspension a big deal? Do they get to keep the grades they got by cheating?</p>

<p>It is listed as a superintendent suspension, which involves a hearing, is documented and the student must serve the suspension at a suspension site. While the school is recommending a 10 day suspension a longer suspension can be given.</p>

<p>A principal’s suspension is an in school suspension where the student serves 2 hours a day ( 5 day max) in their home school.</p>

<p>Either way are they listed on applications? Otherwise I don’t consider either a big deal except for the boredom factor. </p>

<p>My older son did one day of “in school suspension” in 8th grade. We don’t actually know if he threw the first shove, but I am positive he lost his temper and was so glad he got it out of his system before we ever had to mention it on any college application! The school was so funny and apologetic when they called me to inform me. It was clear the other kid was a trouble maker while my kid was not, but I knew he had a wicked temper that could easily have gotten the best of him. They were so relieved when I made no complaints at all.</p>

<p>All suspensions in the NYC DOE are listed in ATS. Anyone with ATS access can look up the disciplinary history of any student (from any school) within the DOE as long as you know the name or student ID #. In the disciplinary history, it will list the incident by disciplinary code, the date, outcome (principals’s suspension/ superintendent suspension, and the length of time of the suspension). When a student has a superintendent suspension, the suspension is open until the student servers all of the time at the suspension center. For example, student has a 10 day suspension. Parent decides, they do not want to send student to suspension center and keeps student home for 2 weeks. Home school receives the daily attendance and is informed that student has not shown up to suspension site. Student is not cleared from the suspension until they actually serve the 10 days at the suspension site.</p>

<p>GC can access, the information. I know many GC’s APs and principals that review the disciplinary history of students applying to middle school and high school and will use the history to deny a student admission. I know college counselors who will look up the disciplinary history of students on their case load and will write about the suspensions on the college application.</p>

<p>It strikes me as unfair, now that the investigation determined that the kids did cheat, that the kids (apparently) still get to keep the grades they got by cheating.</p>

<p>Suspension may be scary to the kids, but does not undo the offense in the same direct way that zeroing out the tests or the course grades would. The punitive consequence of the suspensions – to put the kids behind by 5 or 10 days in the new term – isn’t even related to the offense.</p>

<p>(If all they wanted to do with the suspension was to create a record that the kids cheated, a zero score on the Regent exam or the course in the transcript seems far more to the point. And I read somewhere that the suspensions may be expunged from records later anyway, if the authorities choose to do so.)</p>

<p>How is the Regents exam score beneficial to the kids long term? Are they used by colleges at all? Are the the final exam for the class? </p>

<p>Sorry, not from NY, so I am trying to figure out how keeping the score benefits the kids. In MD, we have MSA’s for state assessments, and they are not reported to colleges, they are more for assessing the teachers/school progress than the students.</p>

<p>^^ Hm, did not mean to say zero out scores INSTEAD of suspending. Was saying they should zero out scores first, that being the logical and fitting starting point. If that’s not sufficient (because, e.g. the scores are not meaningful anyway), then suspend (or whatever else).</p>

<p>Some schools include the Regents scores in end of year grades. I think somewhere upthread someone stated Stuy does not.</p>

<p>I believe to get an honors designation on your Regent’s Diploma you have to pass a language exam.</p>

<p>To answer the question how keeping the score benefits the kids, it doesn’t. Doesn’t affect their grade and as far a Regent’s diploma, have to believe over 90% of the students are probably getting one anyway. Much ado about nothing.</p>

<p>I believe to get an honors designation on your Regent’s Diploma you have to pass a language exam.</p>