An honest study

Fraud and Education: The Worm in the Apple by Harold J. Noah and Max A. Eckstein. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. (c) 2001. 168 pages. ISBN 0-7425-1032-8.

We have all felt it. Drudging through rows of answer bubbles on a high-stakes exam, you can feel an almost palpable pressure of academic success weighing heavy on your character. Because the competition is usually rigid, the anxiety of watching your entire professional future flash before you materializes in physical manifestations: sweaty palms, twitching nerves, or an upset stomach. Such conditions easily tempt you to lift your chin just a bit, unnoticeably, and glance at your peer's answer sheet. Most people would shrug off the lure, but some crumble under the pressure. Cheating, as old as tests themselves, is becoming even more of a societal issue as conditions become more favorable for its occurrence. Authors Harold Noah and Max Eckstein examine cheating and fraudulence within several educational and research arenas-- and how it has flourished after recent technological and communication advancements.

Rather than reprove society for this growing conundrum, Noah and Eckstein focus on rich, colorful examples of fraudulence in the field of education, demonstrating the creativity and extent to which people will commit acts of dishonesty and cheating. They discuss elaborate schemes such as taking advantage of time-zone differences on national exam days. They outline some desperate plots: a student "threatening the proctor with a knife" (42). They look at diploma mills and fabricated medical-- research data. Indeed, the authors provide an eye-opening view of a problem much larger than what most people realize, only made worse by technological advancements available to both students and professionals in the field. While concentrating on such issues mainly in the United States, examples of and direct comparisons to other countries, both with similar and dissimilar educational systems, are readily and appropriately present. In a discussion of judicial intervention of exam cheaters at the university level, the authors report that, "in 1995 ... a teacher in Bangladesh was hacked to death after trying to stop cheating in the end-of-secondary-school exams" (48). Clearly, this example of cheating is extreme, but Noah and Eckstein cite these examples to portray the consequences of high-stakes pressure-individuals committing such astonishing acts in an attempt to further themselves, driven by factors similar to those readily found in the United States.

The authors' investigation and discussion of factors contributing to fraudulence within the field include, but are not limited to, the pressure to succeed (and the inherent consequences of failure), peer competition, the societal emphasis on paper credentials, and the potential reward. These factors are obvious and fundamentally universal in most civilized nations. Yet finding a way to stop fraudulent behavior is not so straightforward. The authors state, "While fraud is committed by persons, and not by policies or systems, it is nevertheless worth remembering that system-wide policies may be the underlying factors driving that individual misconduct" (95). This view can raise a few defensive eyebrows, depending on a reader's position within the field. In anticipation of this resistance, the authors provide a self-admitted section of rebuttal, raising questions and presenting several fascinating scenarios that explore common gray areas of fraudulence and chicanery.

Noah and Eckstein present an inclusive, rich array of shocking, shameful examples and scenarios and the factors supporting them. Yet the effectiveness of their proposed solutions to these fundamental problems are not in balance with the provided evidence. The authors cite four major approaches to reducing fraudulent and dishonest behavior in the field of education: "Reducing incentives for fraud; reducing opportunities for fraud and maximizing the probability of detection; defining and publicizing the limits of acceptable conduct and clarifying, advertising, and enforcing sanctions; [and] building an academic community that regards cheating, plagiarism, and the like as simply unthinkable" (136). These approaches may suggest solutions, but detail on how to implement each is idealistic and vague. The authors declare, for example, "It follows that a major societal task is to reduce as much as possible both the incidence and the severity of fraud" (136). They add, "Any successful program to reduce misconduct needs to tackle the prevalence and intensity of competition-no easy task in a society suffused with the spirit of competition" (137). The countering approaches potentially leave the reader overwhelmed. How can we overcome the issues Noah and Eckstein discuss in grim detail? What can one person do?

Despite the lack of resolve, Noah and Eckstein place the reader before a mirror, forcing him or her to look inward as an educator and examine the nature of personal influence over society. They note, "Wherever credentials are valued, there also credentials fraud will be found" (123). Furthermore, "The more testing, the more incentive there is to cheat" (137). By providing evidence of these correlations, the authors raise awareness of the nature of professional credibility and, therefore, heighten our caution toward all potential educational and professional shortcomings. Overall, the text encourages educators and administrators to seek alternative forms of assessment and instill within students from the beginning an intrinsic value of success through honest achievement-a value that enriches life in general and helps tackle academic and professional obstacles.