1 > Education officials say TAKS test will be closely monitored to prevent cheating
For the next round of TAKS testing, high school students will sign honor codes saying they won’t cheat. Teachers will track where students sit. Monitors will show up unannounced at some schools.Those are among the new steps the Texas Education Agency will take to prevent cheating on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests. The agency announced the plan last year, but with the first tests being given in March, officials issued a notice about the changes Friday.
2 > Law to curb exam cheating
In Shanxi province, authorities cracked down on 10 groups involved in organized cheating, and in Guangdong province, some cheaters were caught using two-way radios to communicate during exams.In a recent survey by China Youth Daily, 83 percent of the 900 college students polled admitted to cheating in exams.Without a legal regulation, schools and universities have adopted various measures to punish cheats. On occasion, cases have gone to court.
3 > Cheating is a grave problem at government universities, officials say
One such anonymous senior at Sana’a University’s Faculty of Commerce says with satisfaction, “I always enter exams with my mobile phone while my friend waits outside with the book. Then, in a low voice, I ask her the questions and she gives me the right answers. Many girls regularly do the same and no one can catch us. Only a few get caught because they are nervous or talk too loudly.”She continues, “Sometimes I – and other girls as well – enter the exam room with the mobile phone and then wait an hour or two until the other students – particularly the smart ones – finish and leave. Then, my friend who is outside takes the exam question sheet from them with their answers written on it and calls us with the correct ones.”
4 > Cheaters getting tougher to catch
Calculators provided all the proof Glenbard West High School officials needed that students were cheating on a final exam.Answers to an honors math test were stored on the devices.With one student suspended, three others given zeros on the exam and more than a dozen taking the offer of a do-over, the school is now looking at ways to prevent future episodes.
5 > Going after cheaters - Deseret Morning News
Sometimes, it’s a matter of text-messaging a picture. Other times, it’s identical wrong answers by a handful of students. But a Utah company is working to sleuth them out: Cheaters.
Be those who cheat on professional licensing exams, or students who team up to cheat on tests used for No Child Left Behind, or teachers who slip answers to students, Caveon Test Security, based in Midvale, works to find them. The business analyzes test data with computers using probability and other patented data forensics programs to detect potential cheating.
6 > California Students Sue Dental Association Over Exam Cheating Row
Thirteen students from UCLA’s School of Dentistry have sued the American Dental Association (ADA) for accusing them of aiding cheaters on a national exam and denying them a chance to defend themselves. In their suit filed with Superior Court in Los Angeles, the students demanded compensation of more than $1 million each and a temporary restraining order against punishments ADA will impose on them, including the voiding of their passing scores in the 2006 exam and a one-year ban on retaking the exam.
7 > Public ethics decline decried
Jennings offered a sobering overview of America’s ethical state, with a hailstorm of headlines about corruption drumming on the tin roof of a public in which 60 percent of high school students, 75 percent of college students and 50 percent of graduate students admit they’ve cheated on an exam in the past year.Moreover, 74 percent of employees say they’ve seen someone at work do something unethical or illegal — but most say they would never report such acts to supervisors. Another recent study of resumes found that half contained false information, usually something big like a college degree, previous employment or a job title.
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.
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