Cheating in schools is nothing new, but the rapid evolution of technology—particularly generative AI—has added a new layer of complexity. As educators face growing concerns about academic integrity, it’s worth taking a step back to understand why students cheat and how we can design environments that foster honesty, resilience, and real learning.
Understanding why students cheat
Cheating is unfortunately common: 60% to 70% of students admit to engaging in at least one cheating behavior in the past month. But interestingly, recent data suggests that the rise of AI has not necessarily increased cheating frequency. Instead, students are driven by familiar motivations:
- Purpose: Students are more likely to cheat if they see assignments as meaningless or disconnected from real learning.
- Perceived ability: If a student feels hopeless about completing a task, they’re more likely to cut corners.
- Risk vs. reward: If the consequences of cheating seem low, the temptation grows.
Cultural and psychological factors also play a role. For example, students who are highly performance-driven (focused on grades over learning) are more likely to compromise integrity.
Approaches that work
While there’s no silver bullet to eliminate cheating, several strategies have been shown to reduce it significantly:
- Emphasize purpose
- Frame assignments around why the skill or content matters.
- Communicate that learning—not perfection—is the goal.
- Highlight that practice is where growth happens, and mistakes are part of the process.
- Provide support
- Offer resources that scaffold learning: videos, examples, extra explanations.
- Make mastery learning explicit: students should know they have multiple opportunities to show what they know, not just a single-shot, summative assessment.
- Foster a culture of academic honesty
- Set clear expectations and talk about them regularly.
- Build community and belonging; students are less likely to cheat when it risks losing respect from a group they value.
- Use technical solutions wisely
- While tech tools can help, they aren’t magic fixes. Some options include:
- Browser locking: Prevents multitasking during assessments (best in proctored environments).
- Randomized questions and answers: Makes copying and memorization more difficult.
- Server-side scoring: Keeps correct answers and scoring logic hidden from students.
- Behavioral analytics and work comparison: Helps detect potential dishonesty, but requires human interpretation and context.
- While tech tools can help, they aren’t magic fixes. Some options include:
Just be sure to avoid over reliance on technical monitoring, as it can feel like surveillance and mistrust, which isn’t conducive to learning. It’s best to pair these tools with instructional strategies.
How Khan Academy and Khanmigo support honest learning
Khan Academy offers a range of tools and resources that support academic integrity by helping students stay focused on learning and growth. Here’s how:
- Purposeful learning tasks: Whether it’s math, science, ELA, or humanities, Khan Academy guides students through meaningful, standards-aligned content that’s designed to help them truly understand the material—not just check a box.
- Scaffolded skill-building: Step-by-step instruction and practice ensure students can build their skills gradually and confidently, reducing the urge to look for shortcuts when tasks feel overwhelming.
- AI support that builds, not bypasses: With Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s AI-powered tutor, students get real-time help that encourages reflection, revision, and deeper understanding—without doing the work for them. The feedback is instructional, not transactional.
- Mastery-based learning: Khan Academy is built on mastery learning principles—students have multiple chances to demonstrate understanding, and features like free retries encourage them to keep going, even when they make mistakes.
- Teacher insight: Teachers can monitor student progress, pinpoint where support is needed, and highlight growth over time—making effort and improvement just as visible as results.
Turning cheating into a teachable moment
Cheating isn’t just a disciplinary issue—it’s a signal. When students understand the value of what they’re learning, believe in their ability to succeed, and feel supported by their teachers and peers, they’re far more likely to engage with integrity.
At Khan Academy, we believe in helping teachers create classrooms where learning is meaningful and honest. Tools like Khanmigo are designed to support that—so students can build real skills, and teachers can focus on what matters most: learning that lasts.
Updated and new resources
Check out the updated AI Guidance For Schools Toolkit and a Landscape Analysis of existing guidance. These practical resources help policymakers, school leaders, and staff create the enabling conditions to teach AI. Visit the new teachai.org/toolkit.
