Dear Associate,

Last issue of this newsletter covered cell phone detecting technology being used in U.K. schools to warn potential cheaters. This week schools in India have upped the ante by using sniffer dogs to root out cheaters! Yes you read that right; Patna University in India is using dogs trained by a private security agency to sniff out "objectionable material from examinees." Too bad the article doesn't define objectionable material. Do these dogs find cell phones, pen scanners, illegal calculators, and hidden scraps of paper? I imagine a dog's presence in the examination hall would be a big time deterrent (and a massive distraction.) Whenever my dog comes sniffing I know he's got one thing on his mind - - that I don't cheat him out of his doggy snack.

If you're concerned that your test items may be for sale on the Internet you won't want to miss the next Caveon webinar: Heist! Who is Selling Your Exams on the Internet? Jamie Mulkey and yours truly will take an informative look at how tests are pirated, packaged and sold on the web. Click here to register.

Best regards,

Don Sorensen
Vice President, Marketing
Caveon Test Security
801.592.3396

1 > Patna Varsity will sniff out cheats in exam halls
Daily News & Analysis - Mumbai,India
...Patna University has come out with an innovative measure to stop cheating in exams - sniffer dogs! The university used the dogs for the first time in the final year exams to minimise the possibility of cheating, said Surendra Singhda, Patna University's examination controller....

2 > Nothing hush-hush about cheating, declare students...
Calcutta Telegraph - Calcutta,India
...“One doesn’t have to think of unique techniques. The school fixes the deal for us. We just pay an amount and we get the level of degree we want,” grinned one of them. When asked: “What about guilt?” the response was what’s guilt got to do with it. Now, that sounded scary. While the students one got talking to in Jharkhand didn’t report such mass scale cheating, they had mind-boggling tales of their own. Most importantly, they declared, it’s hardly a hush-hush affair....

3 > The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part two
NetworkWorld.com - Southborough,MA,USA
...Thus far, CertGuard has defined them as being: "Questions and Answers taken from exams or other tests that have been copyrighted for purposes of protecting Confidential or Trade Secret Information and distributed for purposes of cheating or profit."...

4 > China mulls enacting law to ensure examination security
People's Daily Online - Beijing,China
...China is considering to enact a law for examination security as examination cheating widely exists, said an official with the Ministry of Education. Dai Jiagan, director of the National Education Examination Authority (NEEA) under the Ministry of Education, said examination security is one of the most issues of concern among the Chinese people, as examination equality is the bottom line of social equality. However, examination cheating is rampant and is becoming well-organized together with high-tech means....

5 > Ha Tay imposes new rules to stop cheating, bribery on exams
Viet Nam News - Hanoi,Vietnam
...At each high school, principals, teachers, students and students’ parents committed themselves to fighting cheating and corruption in exams. In preparation for the graduation exams, the department has ordered provincial schools to budget funds to secure school gates and walls to ensure security during the exams....

6 > A cheater's handbook: Answers may vary
USD Volante Online (subscription) - Vermillion,SD,USA
...Every time he replied he kept looking down, so I would take that opportunity to look at a couple of the answers. I would then continue to robotically memorize the answers and go back to my test to write them down until I was finished. ...

7 > Teacher battles academic corruption and cheating
Viet Nam News - Hanoi,Vietnam
...She is part of a growing number of teachers who have publicly denounced corruption and widespread cheating in the education system, but for once their is a group willing to listen to her cries....

8 > Plans for Revamped G.R.E. Are Abandoned
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
...After spending four years and $12 million on research, the Educational Testing Service has abandoned plans to introduce a revamped Graduate Record Exam this fall. The new version, planned to be the biggest overhaul in the test’s history, was designed to prevent cheating and to produce a more accurate measure of students’ ability. But it would have been longer, more expensive and more difficult to administer....

Testing Industry Events

National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education & Certification (NASDTEC)
June 3-6, 2007 - Salt Lake City, Utah Marriott City Center Hotel

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Conference on Large-scale Assessment (NCLSA)
June 17-20, 2007 - Nashville, Tennessee

National College Testing Association (NCTA)
August 1-3, 2007 - Salt Lake City, Utah Hilton Hotel