Cheating threatens academic integrity

Ryan Kung, Asst. Business Manager|April 25, 2022

Similar to past cheating scandals, leaked test questions have wreaked havoc in Diamond Bar High School’s Calculus AB classes once again.

On March 2, first and second period students began discussing and disseminating information about their AP style review exam. Soon after, the following periods found test content online from past College Board AP exams, resulting in a surge in average scores among the course. 

After students anonymously reported the violation of academic integrity, secret group chats on Instagram and Discord sharing the solutions were brought to light. Teachers then conducted score comparisons between periods, concluding that cheating had occurred. 

“[Teachers] said they looked for an increased score between periods,” an anonymous student said. “They concluded that there was cheating after the period later had a higher score.” 

Such breaches in integrity have occurred multiple times within recent years. Most recently, in 2020, a similar instance surfaced where students in the same Calculus AB classes were caught sending each other pictures of test questions. To counteract the issue, teachers and instructional deans collaborated to develop various solutions, which included the creation of different test versions. 

“I hope all the cheaters get cheating contracts as they should,” an anonymous student said. “I want all the colleges they got into by cheating to be aware of this behavior because this has been going on all year.”

After the cheating was discovered, all AP Calculus AB courses were given a new test. Teachers then compared scores between the two tests to detect the potential cheaters. If students scored significantly lower on the second test, they were suspected of cheating.

Some potential consequences include cheating contracts, parent conferences and possible suspension or expulsion.

“[Kuo’s] class did not really change and it resumed to how it was before,” an anonymous student said. “However, he got way more strict on class policies.”