Many strategies have been proposed to address the supply of bespoke essays and other assignments by companies often described as 'Essay Mills' with the act of supply and use being invariably described as 'contract cheating'. These proposals increasingly refer to the law as a solution in common with other action. In this article, the lead author…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues of plagiarism and academic integrity as they are covered by universities and to then identify the existence of legislation that would impose legal consequences. Accordingly, this paper adopts a legal approach to critical analysis and discourse in the examination of the issues and the appropriate…

This manuscript reviews issues that differentiate traditional academic cheating from course misconduct that is motivated by a desire to defraud financial aid services in the U.S. Past research on college student cheating has assumed that cheaters are driven by an incentive to obtain undeserved grades in college in order to ultimately obtain a…

"The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB) made schools accountable for student performance through standardized testing. Some claim high-stakes testing is an inexpensive vehicle through which to raise educational standards, however, these studies typically count only the administrative costs of test development, test delivery, and…

This article examines the 2015 Atlanta cheating scandal trials and sentencing. Using critical race theory, the authors argue that cheating is a natural outgrowth of market-based school reform and that racial realism will always lead to scrutiny of Black performance. The sentences of these Black educators is overkill, rooted in anti-Blackness, and…

One of the many consequences of a neoliberal, high-stakes policy in No Child Left Behind has been that teachers and administrators have resorted to the systematic removal of vulnerable student groups, such as Latina/o English language learners. This process has dehumanized these students and commodified aspects of their identity, such as language,…

A growing number of states and local schools across the country have adopted educator evaluation and accountability programs based on the use of student test scores and value-added models (VAM). A wide array of potential legal issues could arise from the implementation of these programs. This article uses legal analysis and social science evidence…

College administrators may use state and federal law and disciplinary policy to prevent selling and/or purchasing prefabricated term papers. The federal government may enjoin term-paper companies' activities involving use of the mails for fraudulent purposes. States may enjoin sale of term papers violating education or criminal codes. (MSE)

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell's law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Applying…

Selected issues to be considered by the 96th Congress regarding the Higher Education Act reauthorization are examined. Recently funded at approximately $5 billion, the programs of this legislation serve over 3 million students through financial assistance and nearly the full range of traditional higher education institutions and many proprietary…