Fairfax school experiments with letting cheating students retake tests


The Fairfax County high school that asked teachers to all but banish F’s from its recent report cards has been experimenting with an approach that would allow students caught cheating to retake tests instead of receiving zeros, reports the Washington Post. West Potomac High School Principal Cliff Hardison last month instructed teachers to allow cheaters to retake tests. The idea was that cheating should “result in a disciplinary consequence separate from an academic consequence,” Hardison said in a Nov. 5 e-mail to teachers. Later, after complaints from parents and teachers, he reverted to the old policy of using zeros but also gave teachers the option of offering retakes, according to the Nov. 5 e-mail. It said that individual departments would be discussing the issue as the school makes broader changes this year to its grading system. It was not clear how many teachers intended to give the option to retake tests to students who had cheated. Teachers said some departments were actively studying the issue, and others were holding off for now. At least one teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, offered a retest to a student who was caught cheating last month. The shifting policies at West Potomac, in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, have roiled parents and teachers. A group called Real World, Real Grades set up a Facebook page this week…

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