Dear Associate,

In my last newsletter I asked the question: Do high-stakes tests cause more cheating? Here are some of the responses I received:

"We need a 'thought leader' to redefine the notion of cheating in the 21st Century when information is a click away. If we designed authentic assessments of understanding where cheating was not possible because collaboration was encouraged, we could end the threat of cheating and start a trend of measuring what matters."

"As I see it, I would say 'the stage is ideally set for dumb behavior, some of it unethical' if one is talking about, for example, the typical, statewide educational assessment. Anyone who pauses long enough to think about it should realize that educational attainment is more than a set of achievement test scores. As you know, those scores can be very important, but they are hardly the whole banana."

"There will be cheating on all types of tests, but the higher the stakes the greater the chances of cheating. If the high stakes test companies do not agree, they are burying their heads in the sand and risk losing their credibility and their market. The high stakes companies would do themselves well by building security into their tests."

"I think it's about time that folks who believe that high stakes tests are a good idea start being a little more assertive regarding the flaws in the subjective grades system. And perhaps we should all acknowledge that whenever grades - test scores; end-of-course grades – 'count' for something, there are teachers who will cheat in one way or another. How can so many American high school students get such good course grades when their NAEP scores are so mediocre, at best?"

Thanks to everyone that responded. I'm in the process of moving all of the Cheating in the News articles (currently 642) into a blog so that you can respond anytime you'd like. I hope to be announcing the blog soon.

Best regards,

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

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1 > Soldier in cheating probe pulls tests, answers from website
Boston Globe - United States
..."In contrast to a 'study guide,' the website contains images of ACCP exams complete with answers," the one-page order said. "Enabling soldiers to cheat on ACCP exams by downloading images of exams with answers for their use on real exams undermines the integrity of the Army Distance Learning Program. Accordingly, you are ordered to remove images of ACCP exams from www.shamschool.com . . . to maintain good order and discipline within the Army."...

2 > Charter school board votes to shut Uprep, after Chronicle reports grades, test scores, attendance figures were changed
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
...After an hour of discussion and deliberation, the board voted 3-1 to shut the school amid allegations of test-score cheating, manipulation of student grades and transcripts and fraudulent collection of state funding....

3 > Teachers cheating to raise grades
BBC News - UK
...Teachers blame constant testing and the importance placed on league tables for the pressure to improve results - which for some teachers has led to cheating. One unnamed teacher from Leeds said ready-made answers were kept in a filing cabinet. These were used by teachers to fill in missing gaps in pupils' coursework without the students' knowledge. Another teacher told the BBC how he pointed over pupils' shoulders when they made mistakes in an exam....

4 > Canadian nursing exam leaked?
Canoe.ca - Canada
...Janet Mann, the association's acting director of regulatory policy, said officials learned a few days before the June 6 exam there was an "exposure" of the test materials. The leak is now under investigation....

5 > Cell phones can get students suspended
Detroit Free Press - United States
...getting tough on students caught using cell phones or iPods in school, going further than most districts in the state by punishing them with automatic suspensions for breaking the rules. It's an unpopular move with students, but one that the district says is necessary to address a surge in violations of rules. The district says it tackles growing concerns about safety, security and students using electronic devices to cheat during class. And they expect other districts to follow suit...

6 > TAKS free-fall raises suspicions of cheating
Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX,USA
...This spring, the state required outside monitors to oversee TAKS testing at Forest Brook. They watched over every stage of the testing process in an attempt to prevent any potential misdeeds. The result? Under outside scrutiny, the school's scores collapsed. On the 11th-grade test – the one students must pass to graduate – Forest Brook's math passing rate dropped from 80 percent in 2006 to 44 percent this year. In science, the tumble was from 89 percent to 39 percent....

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