A Problem Every School Now Faces
Artificial intelligence has made it impossible to know whether a student’s written work is his own. An essay, a set of answers, an online quiz: any of these can now be produced in seconds by a machine. Teachers cannot reliably tell the difference, and the tools for detecting it fail as quickly as they are built.
Schools have responded in many ways. Some ban the tools. Some try to catch cheaters. Some give up and teach students to use the machines. None of these answers the real question, which is simple: how can a school honestly say that a student has learned what his record claims he has learned?
For a school whose students study at home and online, the question is sharper still. The Classical Liberal Arts Academy has answered it with a policy that does not depend on catching anyone.
What follows is the Academy’s policy from this point forward. From now on, every certificate the Academy grants will rest on oral examination.
Certification by Oral Examination
At the Academy, a certificate is granted only when the student passes a private oral examination. The examination is the only source of certified assessment. It is the only means of obtaining credit from the Academy. Lesson completion, hours of study, parent reports and student claims are not accepted as credit, and every examination is recorded as evidence of the student’s work. The Academy’s online courses are preparation courses: they help the student prepare for his examinations, and the examination certifies what he has learned.
All of the Academy’s course content and online assessments exist for one purpose: to give the student the opportunity to prepare for his oral examination. The lessons, readings, quizzes and assignments in the Academy Study Center are not tests to be passed for a grade. They are the means of preparation.
A student who works through them honestly can be well prepared. A student who works dishonestly, copying answers or letting a machine do his work, cheats no one but himself. He has only lost his preparation, and it will show.
It is impossible to cheat on the examination itself. The student sits before the examiner and must answer in his own words. No machine can answer for him, and no borrowed work can stand in for study he has not done. For this reason the Academy has no need to police daily work at all.
A Voluntary System
The Academy’s examination system is voluntary. No student is compelled to be examined. It rests on the words of our Lord in the Gospel of St. Matthew:
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. (Mt 5:14–16)
Honest study is a good work, and good works are not meant to be hidden. The examination sets a student’s study on a lampstand. It gives him the opportunity to show plainly what he has learned, so that his diligence may be seen and God glorified in it.
The examination does not ask for complete mastery of a great work. It asks whether the student has honestly studied it: whether he knows what the work is about, can explain its principal terms and teachings in his own words, recalls its examples, and can answer questions that show he has thought about what he read.
How the Examinations Work
Oral examinations are available to Academy students only. The fee is $100 per examination, including each re-examination. They are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Examinations are given by subject and level, from the elementary grades through high school to the Bachelor in Classical Christian Studies, and each has a study guide, provided when the examination is purchased, that lists what it may cover. Study guides may be revised from time to time, but each examination is conducted on the study guide the student was given. Examinations are not restricted to CLAA courses. A student may prepare from any sound source, though CLAA courses are designed to prepare him well. The student schedules his examination when he is ready.
The examination is conducted by the Headmaster, privately, either at the Academy office in Monroe, North Carolina, or by Zoom meeting. Every examination is recorded for the Academy’s records. Any materials the student is to use are provided at the time of the examination. If there is any suspicion of cheating or of receiving help from another source, the examination is ended.
One hour is scheduled for each examination. The time actually needed depends on the matter and the student’s preparation, and the student has the full hour to attempt to pass.
No result is given at the close of the examination. The student is thanked for his effort, and the result is provided in writing within one week. It states the examiner’s decision with an explanation of the reasons for it and, where necessary, recommendations for preparing for re-examination.
The examiner judges by the student’s answers alone, not by his daily work. There are two possible results:
- Passed. The student demonstrates knowledge of the subject. One who answers accurately and readily throughout is noted as distinguished.
- Not passed. The student does not demonstrate knowledge of the subject.
The examiner rates the student’s answers on each part of the work as sound, partial, or not shown. To pass, a student must show some knowledge of every part and answer soundly on at least half of them. A student who has honestly studied the whole work will know something of every part, even if he slips on details.
There are no conditional certifications. Where the result is doubtful, re-examination is recommended, and a student may be examined again no sooner than 30 days after his previous examination.
What a Certificate Means
A student who passes receives a certificate stating that he has passed the Academy’s examination named on it, signed by the examiner. The Academy provides a transcript of passed examinations, and passing results are announced in the Academy’s monthly newsletter and on the Academy website.
In an age when written work proves little, these certificates carry real weight. They do not report what a student turned in at home. They report what an examiner heard him say. A parent, a college, or an employer reading an Academy transcript can know that each subject listed on it was certified by direct examination.
For the student, the examination is a goal worth working toward. It turns daily study into honest preparation, and it gives him the satisfaction of having his work clearly seen.
Mr. William C. Michael, OP
Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy