Students Disciplined for Using E-Mail to Cheat

About a dozen Sunny Hills High School honors students have been disciplined for using e-mail to share information on a history final--a vivid example of how computer technology is making it easier to cheat in school.

The cheating occurred during finals week in January and was initiated by at least one 10th-grade student who took the test and e-mailed its questions and answers to fellow students. The final exam was for an honors course in geography/history of non-Western culture exam, Principal Loring Davies said.

While Davies declined to discuss details to protect student confidentiality, one school district administrator said about a dozen students were involved.

The history exam in question was scheduled to be given to students in shifts over a few days, depending on which academic period they took the class. Many high schools schedule finals this way to avoid having students face an exhausting number of tests in one day.

The incident began when a student who took the test copied down questions and included answers in an e-mail that was sent to other students who had not taken the final. Two days later, a couple of students reported the incident to a social studies teacher. School administrators investigated the matter and determined which students viewed the e-mail before taking the test.

Davies would not say how many students were exonerated or haw many were disciplined.