Six Connecticut high schools are testing a pilot program aimed at ending what has been called a cheating epidemic in the nation's high schools.

Jason Stephens of the University of Connecticut came up with the program to test his theory that encouraging teachers to emphasize learning over simply acing tests will go a long way toward promoting academic honesty, The Hartford Courant reported Monday.

The program also involves having students and teachers work together to craft an academic integrity policy.

Stephens doesn't blame students for the results of a national survey that found 65 percent of the 25,000 high school students responding admitted to serious test cheating.

Virtually all of them are cheating because the pressures of having good grades is extraordinary, more so now today than 20 to 30 years ago, Stephens told the Courant.

Cheating is an expedient, if deceptive, way for time-crunched students to get it all done, he added.

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