Cheating, lying and stealing among American students are all less prevalent nowadays, according to a new report.

The 2012 "Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth" suggests that young people's morals have improved in recent years. The survey, conducted every two years by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics, found that 99 percent of the 23,000 high school students sampled say they believe "it is very important to have good moral character."

The results found 51 percent of students in 2012 admitted they cheated on an exam in the past year, which is down from 59 percent in 2010. The percentage of students admitting they've copied another's homework dropped by two points in the past couple years.

"Changes in children’s behavior of this magnitude suggest a major shift in parenting and school involvement in issues of honesty and character," Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, said in a statement. "Though there is still far too much cheating, lying and stealing, I think we have turned the corner."

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The survey also suggest there are fewer Pinocchios: Fifty-five percent of students in 2012 say they've lied to a teacher in the past year about something significant, compared with 61 percent in 2010.

Students admitting they stole something from a store in the past year fell seven percentage points in the last two years, to 20 percent in 2012.

While Josephson believes the results are "a small ray of sunshine shining through lots of dark clouds," this report comes in the midst of a number of recent cheating scandals among students a little bit older.

At least 78 Air Force Academy cadets have been accused of cheating on an online calculus test by allegedly getting help during the exam from a website.

Even the Ivy League has not been immune to moral lapses. It was recently reported that dozens of students at Harvard University were being investigated for possibly sharing answers or plagiarizing on a final exam.

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A lot of young people cheat because they're under pressure to get ahead and succeed, according to David Callahan, senior fellow at New York City-based public policy center Demos.

"Students are worried about getting left behind in this economy," said Callahan, who's also author of "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Do Well."

In fact, 45 percent of the boys and 28 percent of the girls in the Josephson survey believe that "a person has to lie and cheat at least occasionally in order to succeed."

"It’s still a big problem," Callahan told NBC News. "There’s been a decline, but it’s not a huge decline."

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A Pennsylvania mother went to great lengths to see her children succeed when she logged into a school district's computer system to change their grades, state police and school officials say.

Catherine Venusto, 45, admitted to using password information obtained while employed as a secretary for the Northwestern Lehigh School District to log onto the computer system on multiple occasions, according to authorities. 

Using district superintendent Dr. Mary Anne Wright's sign-on and password, she changed a failing grade for her daughter to a medical exception in 2010 and bumped up a grade of 98 to a 99 for her son in February, authorities said. 

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She also used Wright's information gain access to emails and personnel files, assistant superintendent Jennifer Holman told NBC News.

Authorities said Venusto also used employee passwords to access the district's human resource system.

Venusto told police she logged into the system out of "curiosity" and "boredom," according to court records, The Morning Call reported.  

The investigation began in February when Holman reported that a former employee had used the Wright's password and username to gain access into the district's computer system. 

"We had a pretty good idea (identity of employee) because of the grades that were changed," Holman told NBC News.

A teacher at district high school told the principal she had seen Wright's name as logging into an electronic gradebook system, Holman said.

After district officials contacted Wright to inquire about her viewing student grades, she ordered a shutdown of the district's computer system.

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"At the time, I didn't quite have a grasp of the scope of what happened, but I was immediately concerned for protected information," Wright said. "We shut down the system within three hours of learning there was a potential problem."

As a secretary, Venusto's duties included creating sign-in and passwords for Wright and several other employees, the Morning Call reported. 

Holman said she left her secretary job of six years in 2011 in good standing for a position with another school district before going to work for QVC, an online shopping network, according to a news release by the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office. 

The release said an investigation found Venusto logged into the district's computer system more than 100 times using Wright's password. 

Venusto used three different Internet-provider addresses, one from her home, the East Penn School District and another associated with QVC, to log onto the system, the news release said. 

"We deeply regret this incident and that this unauthorized access occurred, and we sincerely regret any inconvenience this may cause," Wright said in a statement posted on the district's website.

Holman said no evidence was found suggesting employee personal information was compromised or used for illegal purposes. She told NBC News that the grades for Venusto's children were the only ones changed. 

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She has been charged with three counts of unlawful use of a computer and three counts of computer trespass, according to court records. 

She was released on $30,000 bail Wednesday. 

Police said she admitted her actions were unethical but not illegal. 

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At least 78 Air Force Academy cadets are accused of cheating on an online calculus test by getting help during the exam from a website, academy officials in Colorado say.

Academy officials said the cadets, mostly freshmen and a few sophomores, used an website math program meant to be used for homework, not the final exam.

Instructors in the academy's math department grew suspicious after a number of cadets who had passed previous tests failed the final exam, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"They had such a large number who had such poor scores, they said, 'How can this be?'" The Associated Press quoted Lt. Col. John Bryan, the academy's director of public affairs, as saying.

Most of the 78 cadets admitted to cheating on the test and have started a six-month remediation program, a type of academic probation, Bryan said.

Bryan told The Gazette that he did not know how many cadets have been ordered to take the remediation program. Some, he said, are still awaiting their turn before an honor board.

If a cadet denies cheating but academy officials determine otherwise, the cadet could be expelled, he said.

According to The Cadet Honor Code, a cadet "will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Penalties for violating the code range from probation to expulsion.

"It is possible to have disenrollments," Bryan told The Gazette.

Bryan said there was no evidence of collusion.

“Every case is individual, and every case is different," Bryan told The Gazette. "We want to give these kids a learning environment and a chance to succeed.”

Bryan said about 650 cadets took the exam on their own, outside the classroom and without supervision in late April, The Gazette reported.

The Associated Press reports past cheating scandals at the military school:

In 2007, 15 cadets were expelled and three resigned for cheating on a test of general knowledge about the Air Force, and 13 others were placed on probation. Cadets had forwarded test answers through an Internet social group and private computer messages, according to the academy.

In 2004, 69 cadets were questioned about cheating on a military etiquette test. Nineteen either acknowledged cheating or were found guilty by an honor board and were expelled or put on probation. Seven other cadets resigned, and 43 were cleared.

The Air Force Academy has more than 4,000 cadets.

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Students taking SAT and ACT college entrance exams this fall will have to submit photo IDs with their applications after a widespread cheating scandal at a number of New York high schools, officials announced Tuesday.

The security change is one of a number of initiatives nationwide following the arrest of 20 current or former high school students accused in a cheating scheme. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said some of the students were paid as much as $3,500 to stand in for other students on the SAT exam, a key barometer for many colleges determining admissions.

"Those who try to cheat will be caught. A fake ID simply won't work to game the system anymore," Rice told Newsday during a press conference on Tuesday. "The problem is that we have kids who think cheating pays ... We have to disabuse them of that idea. If we don't, they're going to be the corrupt -- fill in the blank -- politicians, CEOs, of the future."

She said 50 students were likely involved in the New York scheme, but she only had evidence to arrest 20. The prosecution cases against the 20 students are still pending.

Students surrender in SAT cheating scandal in NY

Rice complained that security procedures were too lax, and was particularly incensed when she learned that one male student allegedly stood in for a female on one occasion. She said students have easy access to phony identification cards, making it difficult for administrators at testing sites to determine if a student is actually who he or she claims to be.

"These reforms close a gaping hole in standardized test security that allowed students to cheat and steal admissions offers and scholarship money from kids who play by the rules," Rice said.

During the 2010-11 school year, the SAT was administered to nearly 3 million students worldwide; 1.6 million students took the ACT in 2011.

"We are committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to pursue higher education," Kathryn Juric, vice president of SAT at the College Board, told Newsday.  

'Spot checks'
The new testing requirements include making students upload a photograph of themselves when they register for the SAT or ACT. Those unable to upload a photo will be permitted to mail in a photo, which will be scanned by the testing agency.

Then, an admission ticket into the testing site, containing the scanned photo, will be mailed to the student.

The photo will not only be printed on the admission ticket, but on the test site roster, and can be checked against the photo ID a student provides at the test center. That photo will be attached to students' scores as they are reported to high schools and colleges.

Other changes include checking student IDs more frequently at test centers; IDs will be checked when students enter a test site, and whenever they re-enter the test room after breaks, and again when the answer sheets are collected.

Testing companies also may conduct "spot checks" with enhanced security at random test locations, or where cheating is suspected. Proctors also will receive additional training to help them identify cheaters and high school and college officials will receive more information about reporting suspected cheating to testing companies.

A spokesman for The College Board noted that some of the security enhancements were developed in consultation with a security firm run by former FBI Director Louis Freeh.

"By implementing these changes, the College Board and ETS can maintain an honest and fair testing environment for the millions of students who take the SAT each year as part of the college admission process," said a statement issued by the College Board.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Eight poker players who say they were victims of a cheating scheme on the popular Ultimate Bet website are suing a Canadian company and unnamed individuals, alleging they violated U.S. laws aimed at combatting organized crime, defrauded players and negligently offered crooked card games.

The lawsuit, filed last Friday in U.S. District Court in California, alleges that the defendants — 6356095 Canada Inc., formerly known as Excapsa Software Inc., and up to 10 Jane or John Does — violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, committed fraud and exhibited negligence by enabling the theft of at least $20 million from high-stakes poker players who gambled on the Ultimate Bet website.

It seeks compensation of at least $1.73 million and far more in punitive damages on behalf of the plaintiffs: Daniel Ashman, Brad Booth, Thomas Koral, Greg Lavery, Dave Lizmi, Daniel Smith, Joseph Sanders and Dustin Woolf.

Possibly more important in unraveling the longstanding mystery of the largest known case of online poker cheating, the lawsuit seeks documentation that Ultimate Bet's shadowy parent companies and regulators with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) have never made public.

The KGC, the regulatory agency of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake in southern Ontario, announced in September 2008 that its investigation found that a single individual — former World Series of Poker champ Russ Hamilton  — was behind the cheating case. But many players believe that it was the result of a broader conspiracy.

Among them is Haley Hintze, a former writer and editor of PokerNews and now a poker blogger who is working on a book on the cheating scheme due out by summer. In it, she told msnbc.com on Thursday, she will identify at least three others who directly participated in the theft and attempts to cover it up.

Representatives of Excapsa Software could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit. A spokesman for the KGC had no comment on the lawsuit or whether it would respond to any subpoenas.

Ultimate Bet acknowledged that $20 million was stolen from players at the site between 2003 and 2008 through the use of a "backdoor" in the gaming software that allowed the cheater or cheaters to see opponents hole cards in high stakes tournaments. The operators of Ultimate Bet refunded most or all of that money.

But the suit alleges that the company “substantially underestimated” the losses by failing to consider money that wasn’t wagered when the cheaters realized their opponent had them beat.

Read 2008 story about the case: Poker site cheating plot a high-stakes whodunit

“The key to the massive success of the cheating players is not simply that they were able to profit by bluffing when their opponent was weak or betting when they had the best hand, but that they were able to fold and not play … whenever their hand was strong (but) not the best,” it argues. “Thus every time a player had a flush, the cheater would fold a lower flush or straight; every time a player had a full house, the cheaters would fold a flush.”

“There are significant doubts about the methodology of the refunds given to players,” said Alan Engle, a partner in the Meador & Engle law firm in Anaheim Hills, Calif., who filed the suit. “That’s always been a closed process and there are inherent difficulties in calculating the amount of the theft.”

Engle said the early part of the case will probably focus on jurisdictional issues, but he said he is confident that he can prevail on any challenges because Ultimate Bet focused its marketing on U.S. bettors.

“Anyone victimized by someone in a foreign nation over the Internet is in no way required to bring a case in a foreign nation,” he said.

Excapsa Software, now known as 6356095 Canada Inc., is currently in the midst of liquidation proceedings in Canada.

Sheldon Krakower, who is handling the corporate dismemberment for XMT Liquidations of Montreal, said he would soon seek guidance from the Ontario court overseeing the case before responding to the lawsuit.

“We will be filing our seventh report to the Ontario court specifically addressing this matter imminently,” he told msnbc.com on Thursday. “… We need direction from the court on that.”

In a report to Excapsa shareholders in May 2011, Krakower indicated that $7 million U.S. had recently been released to shareholders, and that $4.2 million was being held in escrow until the end of the year. It is not clear whether that money remains in escrow.

Ultimate Bet, which merged with another online gaming site, Absolute Poker, in 2008 to form the Cereus Poker network, was among a handful of online Poker sites that had their U.S. operations shut down in April of last year when the U.S. Justice Department indicted them on charges of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, money laundering and other charges. The feds also froze bank accounts holding the bankrolls of U.S. players, many of whom have yet to be repaid.

KPRC-TV

The school district gave all 600 seniors two options: take the test again or have their semester grade calculated without the final exam in it.

HOUSTON — Hundreds of seniors at a southeast Houston high school were caught cheating on a final exam last month, said Clear Creek Independent School District officials.

Teachers and administrators at Clear Lake High School grew suspicious when about a third of the seniors had the same answers on an English exam taken before winter break.

Read this story at NBC station KPRC-TV

"We believe about 200 students engaged in cheating on the final exam for the English 4 test," said Elaina Polsen, director of communication for Clear Creek ISD.

The school district gave all 600 seniors two options: take the test again or have their semester grade calculated without the final exam in it.

"We are certainly not brushing this under the rug," said Polsen. "We are looking at our internal processes and making improvements where we need to to make sure this does not happen again."

Lisa Maxwell-Malik, whose son is a senior at Clear Lake, said: "That's pretty bad. It's disappointing."

Maxwell-Malik said officials from the school district called and emailed about the two options.

"I was a little disappointed that students would cheat, but also that they would wait until the day before school started to let the kids know they're going to have to repeat the test," she said. "They're going to have to study and take something when they thought they were down with [it] the first semester."

Alena Baker is a junior at Clear Lake but is graduating early. She said she heard rumors about the cheating during finals week.

Alena didn't take the test but says the lesson is simple.

"Just do the right thing, because you don't want to have to be the one that made everyone retake the test," she said.

Disciplinary action against individuals who were caught cheating has not been determined because of the large number of students involved, said district officials.

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