INSIDE: Last-Minute Summer Ideas • When Your Teachers Were Students • Baseball Preview
A Student Publication of the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School • Issue 7 • 2015 / 5775
Cheating Survey Reveals Some Surprises English Merle Dweck and Michelle Harari, 3-HR We all know the Yeshivah takes integrity and honesty seriously. We also know, however, that a bit of cheating goes on in this school as well. Well, just how much cheating is “a bit”? Let’s take a closer look. In a survey of 24,000 students in 70 high schools, Donald McCabe discovered that 95% of students admitted to participating in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism, or copying homework. So, naturally, The Phoenix staff conducted its own survey. Our goal was to find out how often students cheat, what they cheat on, and how they feel about it. All questions were optional and the survey was completely anonymous to encourage honest answers. Ultimately, the results confirmed some things we already suspected (Scantron tests are the easiest to cheat on, for example) but also offered some surprises. This survey proved that while technology has indeed helped facilitate cheating, it still has not supplanted any of the traditional methods. Furthermore, while a majority of respondents claimed to be asked for answers on a test or quiz “very frequently,” the same majority also claimed to ask for answers during a test or quiz much less frequently. Another surprise was that 58 kids (out of 121) said they have cheated without being caught, while 74 of 121 say they have been falsely accused of cheating. What we found most astounding however, was
how open many students were in admitting and discussing their cheating. And although we know that not every survey respondent was honest with us (some even admitted to dishonesty) it does appear that the percentage of students who cheat is not as high as we would’ve thought. For a deeper analysis, let’s look at the questions and responses. Question 1: What grade are you in? Answer: 37 freshmen, 23 sophomores, 55 juniors, 6 seniors (totalling 121). Analysis: This seems logical, of course, as the reporters who conducted this survey are juniors and there are only so many group chats in which to share the survey. What is interesting, though, is that it trickled down to the freshmen as well. The bottom line, however, is that less than 25% of the student body participated in the survey, and it is not a representative sample, so the results can tell us only so much. However, as a snapshot, the results are still eye-opening. Q2: Are you currently in honors? A: 88 yes, 33 no. Analysis: Not only are we juniors, but also we are in honors. 121 answers to this question as well. Q3: Have you ever cheated on or done any of the following, plagiarism included? Check all that apply. A: Test - 55 Quiz - 64 Copied Homework - 95 Paid work - 10
Other - 12 No, I have never cheated - 20 Analysis: The two highest percentages of cheating were the copied homework (37%) and the quiz (25%). The lowest of the six was not “No, I have never cheated,” but was actually “paid work.” Maybe the stereotype is true: honors kids don’t pay for their work. (But there still must be some form of other cheating going on.) Q4: Have you ever used the following method(s) to cheat? Check all that apply. A: Phone or electronic device during test - 22 Received questions/answers from other classes - 80 Received a copy of the test beforehand - 40 Copied a scantron - 24 Cheat sheet - 23 Ask neighbors for answers during the test - 54 Nearpod screenshots/messaging during test - 28 Other - 33 Analysis: We see old-school cheating still prevails; sorry technology, you’re still lagging behind, with only 7% of respondents using electronic devices during tests and 9% for Nearpod. It does make us wonder what the 10% other is, though. And despite all these checked boxes this is still somewhat lower than our original assumptions. Q5: Is it OK to discuss a test with Cont’d on page 6
New Teacher Profile: Ms. Mayer Marlene Levy, 1-HR
Ms. Mayer is a new addition to the English department at Flatbush. If you’ve confused her with her twin sister who used to work in the guidance department, you’re hardly alone. As Ms. Mayer calmly told The Phoenix, “I’m used to it.” Although she is mainly known for her English and writing classes, Ms. Mayer does many things when she is not teaching the 9th and 11th grades at Flatbush. For the past five years, Ms. Mayer has taught studio art and art history to the 9th grade at Bnos Yaakov. She also likes to travel, do ballet, and read. Because Ms. Mayer is such a great English teacher, you might think that she
always wanted to be a teacher, but as recently revealed, this is a false statement. When Ms. Mayer was asked if teaching was her original ambition as a child, her response was, “Absolutely not! I’ve always dreamed of becoming an author.” For a while she also debated working in publishing, but after a lot of thinking she went to Touro College to major in English. She then attended Brooklyn College to get her master’s degree in English Literature and Educational Leadership. She may teach at two schools at once, take two or three exotic trips every year, and do ballet, but Ms. Mayer plans on teaching at the Yeshivah of Flatbush for quite a while.
Classes To Adopt 3/2 Format Daniella Babaee, 3-S
The 3/2 format, which divides English into three literature periods and two writing periods per week, will go into effect for all grades except for seniors next year. During the writing periods, the class is split in half, with the regular English teacher teaching half the class and another English teacher teaching the other half. The overall goal of the 3/2 format is to improve students’ writing by allowing more individualized instruction and more writing assignments for the students. The increase in writing classes takes away from the literature classes, however. Ms. Bloom, Chair of the English department, describes that drawback as being “sad, but in the world we live in, if you can’t write, you can’t do anything.” On the more positive side, the 3/2 format, which is already in place for all 11th grade English classes, seems to be achieving its expected results. “I really see a difference in my writing,” says Jesse Idy of class 3-W. Danielle Dahan of 3-S also says that the extra writing class really helps her. Ms. Bloom said that she sees the improvements in her students’ writing as well. She added that, because the teachers follow through with the students’ writing assignments step by step, seeing them through from start to finish, there has been a decrease in plagiarism. The English department has tried various formats with the lower grades in recent years. Until this year, sophomore English classes had six periods per week: four literature periods and two split writing periods in which half the class had writing with its regular English teacher and the other half had SAT preparation with Ms. Hanon. For the past two years, all 9th grade English classes have been split in half for all five periods per week. The freshman classes will now be split only twice a week, as will the sophomores. As always, expectations will be high for the writing abilities of Flatbush graduates. Ms. Bloom finished by saying, “In the end, it’s not how well you write, it’s how you rewrite.” www.theflatbushphoenix.com | 1