Stuyvesant High School is an elite New York City high school that the "best of the best" high school students attend. Stuyvesant is ranked as the best of nine free public schools in New York City that admit students on the basis of their scores in the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). The students are counseled and groomed for admission into elite colleges and universities. They also know that their grades are key determinants in getting into those schools. Stuyvesant's website posts scores of students who got into certain schools, along with their SAT scores and averages. As a result, one student described it as follows: "It became a numbers game. It was kind of addictive in a bad way, in a sick way. People will assume, well, I have a 92, most kids who got into that school got a 94, so there's no way I can get in." \({ }^{.64}\)

As a result, \(80 \%\) of the students at the high school indicated that they had cheated in some way while at the school, including copying homework from a Facebook site, tipping off classmates who were taking an exam in the same class later in the day, hiding formulas in sleeves or bathroom stalls and then using a restroom break to get that
information, Googling questions and getting information on an iPhone (such as facts for history or a formula they had forgotten for math), and taking photos of test questions for their friends. \({ }^{65}\)

In a bizarre way, the competitive students developed a sort of cheating cooperative in which they shared answers, workload, and talents in order to get the GPA numbers that they needed for elite colleges and universities. For example, they had tapping systems worked out for signaling each other answers on exam questions during the test.

Copying homework did not carry any disciplinary actions and that's why the students felt free to post the assignments on Facebook. Students also noted that they cheated because it was a way to get into the college or university they wanted and that they could then return to ethical behavior once they reached that goal. New York Magazine referred to this attitude as the practice of "cheating upwards." 66

As a result of the cheating culture, the students at Stuyvesant also cheated on their Regents exams, something that was picked up by test administrators. Those who were strong in math and physics helped their friends on those subjects on the New York State Regents Exams, whereas those weak in math and physics helped out their friends who were weak in English and foreign languages. One student said, "The lines did get a little blurry". 6 7 Another student said, "It's seen as helping your friend out. If you ask people, they'd say it's not cheating. I have your back, you have mine.".68

Seventy-one Stuyvesant students were accused of cheating on their Regents exams, but many of the students had already been admitted to elite colleges and universities, and there would be no penalty for them. The Regents exam cheating took place by the simple act of one student, Nayeem Ahsan, typing the questions into his iPhone and sending them along to other students. Other students used their iPhones to send messages asking for verification of answers while they were taking the tests. Nayeem sent exam questions he had typed in via text message to 140 students. When he was caught, the penalty was his expulsion from Stuyvesant. He commented, "I didn't know I could have gotten kicked out of Stuy if I pulled this off. That was never made clear to me." \({ }^{.69}\) There was an online petition from his fellow Stuy students in support of keeping him at Stuy, part of which included this comment: "There's a lot of people that do a lot worse in Stuy. There's people that smoke weed, people that do drugs. True, it's unethical, it's an extreme breach of academic integrity, and it's at an elite school. It is bad, but I don't get how kicking you out would help anything..............................

Discussion Questions

1. One student said that the lines got "blurry" and that's why they cheated. What did the student mean, and what have you read in Unit I that might help this student with his take on the situation at the school?
2. Is it possible to act unethically to reach a goal and then change behaviors once the goal is reached?

3. What advice would you give to the administrators of the school in order to help them curb cheating?