Dear Associate,

I recently made my pilgrimage to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my license. After patiently waiting in line, my number was called and I went to the counter to finish off my paperwork. While I was chatting with the officer, a framed certificate on his desk caught my eye -- I spotted the word "cheater." I asked him if I could get a closer look at the certificate and I read, "Most Valuable Cheater Catcher."

This is the first time I'd seen such a certificate and my curiosity was piqued. He told me he received the award because he's consistently the best at catching cheaters. I asked him what methods he used, and he told me that most often cheaters give themselves up by acting "too nervous." The paper and pencil DMV tests are given at small desks with a short riser wall around them. He said he can always spot a cheater because they're like "gophers, constantly popping their heads up to look around and make sure nobody is looking at them." Awarding the "most valuable cheater catcher" is a great idea and worthy of imitation. If your organization has a similar award I'd love to hear about it.

Best regards,

Don Sorensen
Vice President, Marketing
Caveon Test Security
801.592.3396

1 > Cheating the test system
San Francisco Chronicle - San Francisco,CA,USA
...Teachers have helped students cheat on California's high-stakes achievement tests -- or blundered badly enough to compromise their validity -- in at least 123 public schools since 2004, a Chronicle review of documents shows. Schools admitted outright cheating in about two-thirds of the cases. And while the number reporting problems represents a small fraction of the state's 9,468 public schools, some experts think the practice of cooking the test results is more widespread....

2 > Guards at Progress Energy nuke planted cheated on tests
Hendersonville Times News - Hendersonville,NC,USA
...Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors said three supervisors with Securitas Security Services USA provided answers to guards taking annual recertification tests in 2005. That resulted in unqualified security guards at the Shearon Harris plant, officials said....

3 > Cheating by MBA Students Should Serve as Wake-Up Call
Human Resource Executive Online (subscription) - Horsham,PA,USA
...Raising awareness of ethical values is not enough to root out unsavory behavior, experts say. Schools and companies alike must have procedures for detecting unethical behavior -- and policies that institute firm penalties. ...

4 > Online tests can be both a blessing and a curse
Daily 49er - Long Beach,CA,USA
..."It's difficult to manage the security of it," Dick said. "Some students can flat-out have another student take the test for them. But there are ways to control it." One solution to the cheating issue is to have on-site distribution sites for students to go to outside of class time to take tests, Dick said. Site hosts would distribute and monitor the tests in controlled rooms....

5 > RFID being tapped to stifle exam cheaters
Ars Technica - Boston,MA,USA
...Cheating has been around for as long as there have been exams, and modern-day cheaters have a whole host of electronic tools to help them in their nefarious activities. The other side hasn't stood still, however: the UK-based Edexcel examination board has announced that the company will be adding electronic radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags to its GCSE (high school equivalency) and A-level (pre-university) exam papers. The RFID Guardian: a firewall for your tags FTC looks at privacy in the next "Tech-ade" The tags will be embedded in many of the exam packages, which come bundled in secure bags that are supposed to stay untouched until exams start. The RFID tags can be used to detect if the bags have been opened prematurely and if exams have been removed, which would indicate potential fraud....

6 > School iPod ban is cheating students
PC Advisor - London,UK
...I don't want to second-guess the individual decisions of specific teachers and school principals. But the ban does raise questions, the most interesting of which is: Should iPods or other handheld gadgets instead be "required" during tests?...

7 > Cheating on a Different Level
Inside Higher Ed - Washington,DC,USA
...56 percent of M.B.A. students reported in one survey cheating in some way from fall 2002 to spring 2004. A comparable survey showed that 74 percent of undergraduate business majors and 68 percent of non-business majors reported cheating....

8 > Cheating scandal snares nearly half of IU dental class
Indianapolis Star - Indianapolis,IN,USA
...Nearly half the students in the Indiana University School of Dentistry's second-year class have been disciplined for their roles in a cheating scandal in which students broke into password-protected files to view exam material before tests.

The school's Faculty Council voted Friday to dismiss nine of the students, suspend 16 for periods ranging from three to 24 months and issue letters of reprimand to 21 students for violating the school's pro

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

l