A recent CNN story found that 75% of 4500 students surveyed in a Rutgers University study engage is serious cheating, and more than half have plagiarized directly from the internet. Executive Regional Director of Missoula County Public Schools Karen Allen says the local school district has set rules for students who are caught cheating, however, MCPS believes new methods of teaching will encourage students to produce and take pride in their own work.

Allen says the age-old traditions of telling the truth and being responsible for one's actions must be taught at home, in school and confirmed in the workplace. Allen says when young people see TV shows and movies that glorify cheating and dishonesty, it is difficult for their young minds to understand that fictional characters seldom must reap the consequences of their actions. Allen also noted that some administrators in major school districts such as Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D. C.  had altered test scores to achieve better results in programs like 'No Child Left Behind', and that students also find this behavior difficult to understand.

Executive Regional Director of MCPS Karen Allen

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