About halfway through the second semester of the 2025-2026 school year, reports of cheating among members of the junior class began to appear, mainly in advanced math and science classes. The claims, backed by student confessions and concerned teachers and administrators, revealed the issue of extra time usage as the main instrument for cheating.
Some students at Parker are allotted extended time on certain assessments based on qualifying for a learning disability via testing from a certified medical provider, however other students aren’t offered this accommodation and are still allotted more time on tests. Teachers found that these students would consult other classmates on the content of the test or exam and use that information to inform their answers. The scandals have raised concerns from the student body about the apparent use of extra time and how it impacts the appearance of those with certified extended time.
Academic honesty is taken seriously at Parker. The handbook states that “Cheating is the use or provision of unapproved assistance for academic work” and is qualified as academic dishonesty. While extra time on testing is approved by teachers, it does not qualify as cheating per the handbook. As these rules have previously been thought only to apply to unauthorized AI or unauthorized material use among students, the question of extended time has been thrown into the conversation surrounding what constitutes cheating, and what meets the needs of the student body academically. Illinois State Law requires that all students receive extended time on testing should they meet the requirements, within schoolwide and national level testing such as the ACT, SAT, and AP tests through Section 504 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Outspoken critic of extended time and member of the junior class Conor McGuire had begun reviewing the data on Parker’s approach to the practice compared to other schools before these scandals even came to light. “Parker has significantly more students with extended time, percentage wise, than most other schools that are in the Chicagoland area,” McGuire said. “That number is generally between four and six percent for any public school, and then it’s odd because you go to look at Parker and that number is so much higher.” McGuire explained how at other public schools in Chicago, students can test into an Individualized Education Program (IEP), to gain access to extended time on tests. The goal of the IEP as a government program is outlined by the U.S. Department of Education as “…an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities.”
McGuire claims about 60 percent of those who qualify for an IEP receive extended time on testing. At Parker, he says, the number of kids receiving extended time on tests is four times the national average. “In an ideal world, each student has an adequate amount of time for their own personal needs,” McGuire said, “tests should be designed so that your average student who works slowly at a non-extended time pace should be able to complete it on time.” McGuire believes that students who have a learning disability should have access to extended time, but with some students rigging the system, it hurts everybody.
One teacher hurt by the abuse of extra time is Upper School mathematics teacher Sven Carlsson. Carlsson’s class was one with multiple incidents of cheating involving the abuse of extra time. “My first reaction is just the human disappointment that this is a thing that’s going on,” Carlsson said, “and hope that people can learn from it.” Because of cheating, Carlsson will need to adapt. This comes at the cost of a higher workload for Carlsson with the creation of more versions of tests and answer keys to accompany them. However, this isn’t how Carlsson envisions the learning process in and out of his classroom. “If the only reason why people aren’t cheating is because the system is really good at stopping them from cheating, then there’s a bigger failing there in life,” Carlsson said.
In the advanced track of math and science courses at Parker, there’s a common thread among teachers in the idea of productive struggle, the concept of putting students through challenging tasks and forcing them to use their knowledge learned from class in new and creative ways. “The biggest thing from my class that I can give students is not a letter grade,” Carlsson said. “It is actually a habit of mind.” Carlsson sees the importance of a Parker education and understands that students that leave the school will go on to have an impact in the world—he hopes they make this impact with integrity. “Choosing integrity, even when it costs something, I think is worth it,” Carlsson said.
The person most involved in the administration of extended time on testing is Upper School Learning Resources specialist Valerie Ginnan. Ginnan’s room has become the hub for continuations on tests for those with learning disabilities along with being the main location for those seeking assistance with managing these disabilities. She’s seen the abundance of technology as a reason for increased cheating in recent years, due to its access and students’ compulsive nature. Students who qualify for extra time with a learning disability, she says, aren’t the ones necessarily doing the cheating. “I think it was a combination of students who may have missed the original test administration because they were absent or not in class for a variety of reasons,” Ginnan said, “and then took the test at a later time after others had already seen it.”
All of the reports that came to Ginnan were from students reporting on fellow classmates who would take the test, tell others what was on it, and then have that inform their answers when they took it. “Testing at Parker needs to be tightened up for all subjects,” Ginnan said. “The people who are taking the test after you may have an advantage.” As well, the amount of students with extended time at Parker is less shocking to Ginnan when compared to other private or independent schools. “I would say that this is a common thread throughout schools that have more resources,” Ginnan said.
As a solution, Ginnan says that the school should simply give everyone extra time, as this would eliminate the worry about having enough time to finish tests and the comparison between those who do and don’t have accommodations. “I don’t necessarily think this is like an extra time problem,” Ginnan said. “I think this is just a testing problem in general.”
