Working hard to earn a zero

I know that students cheat. I did, twice. Once on a spelling test in second grade (reason: I struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia) and on a quiz in 7th grade when we were supposed to memorize the entire periodic table (reason: I found it a pointless activity for a 7th grader).

Some teachers have stopped giving project work outside of class simply because they believe that cheating is so rampant that work done outside of class rarely reflects a students actual abilities. I'm a bit more optimistic and believe that students can learn a lot of from the writing process, which takes more than one 45 minute class period. Zoom back to the first project assigned to my French 2 class (90 students, 3 sections, mostly freshmen, some sophomores and one very disgruntled senior) in a well-reputed public school district outside of Washington, D.C.

I set up two anti-cheating measures and assigned my project.

1)Make the goal obtainable

I once cheated because I felt incapable of doing the work my teacher asked of me. Therefore I wanted my writing project to be very doable. We worked on it in class, with help from the teacher. I gave students feedback and had a very simple (albeit long) peer-editing worksheet that helped each student identify corrections that needed to be made. I gave sample sentences. I showed them which resources could be used. I broke down the assignment into little, digestible parts. I gave them lots of structured class time to complete the assignment.

2)Have students sign a pledge

We outlined what is considered cheating (online translators, getting someone else to write it, etc) and what is acceptable (dictionaries, in-class peer-editing, teacher, textbook, reference sheets). Then all students had to sign a pledge stated that the work was their own and they hadn't used any prohibited resources. Students understood that consequence for cheating would be a non-negotiable zero on this major assignment.

The result? Approximately one-third of my students worked very hard to earn a zero.

That was my culture shock.

Then the students experienced theirs: I actually did what I said I would do and let one-third of my students keep the zero that they earned. This caused some of them to fail the marking period and drastically lowered all of their grades.

The surprising twist? In a school of helicopter parents, not a single parent got mad with me about the zeros. Yes, they were very upset - with the situation, with their child's choice - but not with me.

This miracle of neutralizing the "parent versus teacher" effect took a few steps.

1) Administrative support
After I marked the projects and saw the cheating issue but before I spoke with any of the students or parents, I went to my administrator. I explained the situation and my plan to keep my word. She loved the fact that I always alerted her to any situations that might cause a parent to complain. This way she wasn't surprised by parent complaints and had already heard my side first.

2) Talk to the students individually
I dedicated a day to dealing with my cheating issue. I gave all the students an intense review worksheet and called every student- those who cheated and those who didn't- up to talk with me. In lieu of accusing them of cheating outright, I simply highlighted the problematic words and phrases and asked them to explain them to me. When they could not, I asked them how those words and phrases that they didn't know or understand got into their paper. All but one student (the disgruntled senior) confessed to cheating. I asked them what the consequence of cheating was. They all knew; they had earned a zero. They wrote on the project that they had cheated and understood that the consequence was a zero. Then they signed their names.

3) Let the students break the news to their parents
I gave all my students 24 hours to tell their parents before I did. They could choose the best moment and I avoided dealing with the parents' initial reactions. It also eliminated the "I gottcha" element from both the student-teacher and parent-teacher conversations.

4) Zero for the choice of cheating, not the students' value
I've unfortunately overheard various parent-teacher phone calls where the teacher attacks not the child's choice, but the child himself. Instead of devaluing the child's character, I commiserated with the parents. I was very sad their child chose to cheat. I also made it very clear that I didn't believe that this choice made their child into a bad person. I counter the bad choice with other positive information about the child's ability, classroom habits, and personality.
Some parents think that intervening and try to prevent their children from experiencing uncomfortable situations, like earning a zero on a major project for cheating, is in the best interest of the child. I disagreed, explained my belief and held strong. Every child who cheated earned a zero. It's better to learn this lesson now than postpone it.


I'm strongly against what I term "warm-fuzzy" educational policies that prevent students from learning real-life skills such as dealing with the consequences of their actions. I also believe that in any system that values the grade more than the actual learning creates an environment that is ripe with the temptation to cheat. This is seen on a larger scale with high-stakes testing and the various cheating scandals that are associated with it, like the recent one in Atlanta.