Descriptive Analysis of Georgia High School Teachers' Perceptions of Academic Dishonesty

This research study was conducted with the assistance of Georgia high school teachers for the purpose of examining teachers' perceptions of academic dishonesty during the 2006-2007 school year. Data were gathered to establish teachers' perceptions of academic dishonesty by exploring what behaviors teachers felt to be academically dishonest, how teachers addressed such occurrences, whether teachers felt any internal conflict regarding academic dishonesty, whether any external pressures were involved in instances of academic dishonesty, and how these experiences affected teachers attitudes toward their profession. Results of the study indicated that high school teachers in Georgia consider academic dishonesty to be a prevalent problem. Teachers consider some types of academic dishonesty to be more serious than other types of academic dishonesty. Some teachers reported that academic dishonesty is a moral issue and that parents are responsible for the moral training of their children. Some teachers also reported that administrators play an important role in the success or failure of policies that address academic dishonesty. Some teachers feel comfortable approaching their administrators about issues concerning academic dishonesty, while other teachers do not. The implications of this study are that staff development opportunities could allow teachers to explore honor codes, violations, sanctions, and policy implementation. Teachers could keep tests locked in secure locations, use software passwords, and plagiarism detecting software. Educational opportunities for parents could include being exposed to teacher syllabi, course requirements, sanctions, student handbooks, and information sheets. For administrators, graduate level course work could address academic dishonesty, and administrators could promote honor codes and an academic dishonesty policy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2007

Author dc:creator

• Rowland, Amy Manning

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cordelia Zinskie
• Lucindia Chance

• ETD
• Academic dishonesty
• Cheating
• Teachers' perceptions
• School board policy
• High school teachers

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/215

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1215