Cheating during a controlled modern language assessment

[Jinglebells99]

My child did her first controlled language assessment today. It was an essay, they had to prepare and learn. She says another girl had a sheet of paper on her lap and was copying from it. The girl is one of the popular children and a bit of a bully. I don't suppose there is anything to be done? Really annoyed me that she's getting away with cheating!

[clary]

CA in MFL is so open to abuse, thank goodness it is going.

However that doesn't really help the OP...

I teach MFL Jinglebells and I would want to know. If I was told this about a student I would talk to them about it and hope they would admit it - then they would need to redo the test.

I would hope your DD would not be named. I certainly wouldn't make everyone do it again unless they were all cheating.

[IguanaTail]

I would definitely want to know. Makes a mockery of an already suspect test. Why should some learn properly while others copy.

[Autumnsky]

You can bring a note to the assessment though, DS1 just did 1, he can bring a note of 30 words.

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

I have seen blatant cheating - with the HT in the room (she had been an MFL teacher before being head, and so often popped into MGL classrooms) - in the dire school I trained in.
HT told me breezily that everyone cheats and the school would disadvantaged if they didn't.
As a trainee I was not brave enough to whistle-blow.
I know there are school where it is rightly not condoned.
Glad they are going.

[ifonly4]

My DD was told she could take a list of so many prompt words, could that be what the other girl had?

[BlueBrightFuture]

The fact that it was hidden on her lap does not sound like it was a piece of paper that was allowed in the room at the time.

If it was my DD I would tell her to keep her head down and mind her own grades to be honest. If it really bothers you, perhaps you could drop the head of the subject a line and see what they have to say about fair play?

[Jinglebells99]

They were allowed to take the piece of paper with 40 words but this was hidden on the girl's lap. I suppose the thing would have been to raise it at the time but my dd doesn't want to be a snitch. But it grates on my dd's sense of unfairness. Other students noticed she was cheating too.

[needmorespace]

Cheating is rife
My daughter was expected to learn something like 120 answers on topics for one of her assessments.
My friend's sons both had to learn around 8 - because they knew which questions they would be asked. And were stunned that my child had to learn so many responses.

[schokolade]

I think the time to say something has passed. What's the teacher meant to do, take DD's word for it? The girl would just say it was her sheet of 40 words if confronted.

Personally I'd talk to DD about what/when to speak up next time, if that's what she'd like to do.

[millefeuille1]

I am an MFL teacher and I like to think most of us do not allow cheating . I am very vigilant during these assessments, but it has happened on my watch. Thankfully, I have been informed PDQ because obviously the other students gets very hacked off if they have worked hard to learn the piece and someone else has taken the "easy route". I wouldn't allow them to retake - they would have to do a whole new topic and start again. I would definitely want to know if someone had seen this, regardless of how much later it was.

[Howaboutthisone]

I'm totally with millefeuille on this! I'm so frustrated that cheating in these CA is seen as the norm. I don't allow it and I know that my pupils are completely disadvantaged by this as so many other schools do cheat.
I even started a thread a few weeks ago saying that I feel that the CA is too difficult for all bar the most able. Immediately I got the response 'that's why so many teachers cheat'.
It's so frustrating and I can't wait for them to be gone!

[Howaboutthisone]

Totally with you on the having to do a whole different topic.
Unfortunately I think it's more rife than you think.

[Fatfreefaff]

I have one child who worked her guts out because her school played by rules and another whose school bent the rules to breaking point. Teacher actually turned a blind eye to cheating in a language CA (my daughter was too scared to cheat) and she was spoon fed the answers in science. I was fucking furious but I thought it would void all the results if I complained to the exam board though I was sorely tempted.

I am sorry to see CAs go because I think the principle is a good one but they are a cheats charter and penalise the genuinely compliant.

[SeekretSquirrels]

This happened when DS1 did his MFL CA most of the class had cheated and DS was furious.
I rang the head teacher the same day and he responded very well. Next morning the entire cohort were marched to the hall to re-do the CA without their cheats. Those who had prepared properly and not cheated were smugly able to do well and those who cheated first time round were easily identified.

[IguanaTail]

They should not have been allowed to re-do the controlled assessment - that is extremely serious malpractice in itself.

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

Maybe they didn't actually submit the 're-done' work just did it to make the point to the kids (and convince parents) that action had been taken. That way they could square it with the exam board and mollify parents