I once had a student turn in a beautifully written composition that I knew was not his work. When I talked to his mother, she told me, "Of course, I did it. You know he can't write." Parents sometimes feel that they have to help out with projects because other parents are raising the bar. One of my friends explained to me that she had not helped her oldest child with a particular project, and the kid had been embarrassed when most of the other students brought in these elaborate projects that had obviously been completed by parents. When her next child was assigned the same project a few years later, this mother jumped in and did a fantastic job. Call it parent pressure.
A dad with a daughter in a Montgomery County school ordered a catapult kit from the Internet and assembled it himself to help his 12 year old daughter with a history project. He was not happy when the project received a D .
His daughter's overall grade suffered from Joe's D. But what most annoyed him about the project he called "silly" was that other catapults -- clearly built by parents with more expensive kits -- got higher grades.
"It was obvious parents made them all," he said.
Another article on washingtonpost.com gives guidelines to parents on how much help to give their children with their homework. They recommend to let the older students ask for help before offering.
If teachers truly want to see what their students can do, the best way is have them do the work at school. Grading projects obviously not done by the students is a waste of time. Call that teacher pressure.