Dear Associate,

During the NOCA conference I met with reporters from the Boston Globe about a story they were developing around the problem of cheating on professional examinations. Kevin and Alan did a great job uncovering details behind many of the websites illegally selling test content. The story also includes a list of "recent examples of cheating on professional certification and licensure exams."

The Dennis on Data Forensics blog continues to grow. In a recent post Dennis applies his forensic analysis not to testing -- but to the steroid baseball scandal. He compares "Barry Bonds offensive performance against three other great hitters of the game: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Ty Cobb." Dennis provides a convincing picture that Barry Bond's performance is indeed enhanced by steroid use. Check out 'Sabermetrics,' baseball and steroids

Here at Caveon we continue to grow and I'm pleased to announce that Jamie Mulkey has been promoted to Vice President of our newly formed Client Services group. I know many readers are familiar with Jamie's influence in the testing industry and join me in extending her congratulations. Read more about Jamie's promotion.

Best regards,

Don Sorensen
Vice President, Marketing
Caveon Test Security
don.sorensen@caveon.com
801.592.3396

1 > Internet cheating sites providing answers for professional exams - The Boston Globe

For $30, anyone can buy answer keys for tests required to become a computer technician. A retired medical professor in Georgia allegedly sold answers to pharmaceutical license exams for $100. A website in Ohio offers a “VIP Pass” to answers for a business school admissions test for $30.

2 > Resorting to Cheating - The New York Sun

My concern is that out of fear for their jobs, or greedy for extra money, some principals and teachers will resort to cheating. And it wouldn’t take much cheating to yield significant swings in the fortunes of schools.

3 > School test scandal claims decorated principal - USATODAY.com

A decorated San Diego high school principal has resigned in connection with a case of alleged cheating and grade-tampering. Observers say this is part of a growing problem, as educators’ and students’ lives increasingly rest on the results of a handful of high-stakes tests

4 > Cheating on Fire Dept. exam alleged - The Boston Globe

State officials are investigating whether a group of Boston firefighters cheated during a civil service promotional exam in November, taking turns going to the men’s room, tapping out answers on their cellphones, and sending text messages to their colleagues in the testing room.

5 > China Diaries: Beating the cheats - icWales

Some students use modern technology to their advantage, a current favourite being to take photographs of exam papers on their mobile phones and sending them to their friends. Hidden electronic transmitting and receiving devices are also popular. The Chinese press recently reported an instance where one such device exploded while in use, hospitalising a student.

6 > Preuss Admins Tackle Post-Audit Damage Control

Greg Campbell, a former government teacher at UCSD’s Preuss School, was among 11 current and former employees who testified that ex-Principal Doris Alvarez pressured them to give students “extraordinary” accomodations to improve their grades. Alvarez denies any participation in grade inflation.

Testing Industry Events

Association of Test Publishers (ATP)
Innovations in Testing Conference
March 3-5, 2008
Gaylord Texan, Dallas, TX

ATP Test Security Summit (in conjunction with ATP conference)
March 5-6, 2008
Theme: Preventing Test Fraud and Protecting Intellectual Property

Caveon Test Detective
This new Caveon service under development will analyze all tests administered for a specific testing session. It will detect and report pairs of test takers where the test responses are more similar than we would expect under normal testing situations.

We are conducting a short ten-question survey to help us put the final touches on this exciting service. If you would like to participate in the survey click on the link below.

Take the Survey