Today is the first day of the annual ATP Conference (Association of Test Publishers). This afternoon I will present a workshop titled, “Strategies and Tactics for Limiting Item Exposure.” We will be exploring innovative ideas for protecting tests and items from theft. It’s easy to understand why test publishers are concerned about test theft. High-quality [...]

When it comes to supporting an allegation of cheating on tests, there is rarely better statistical evidence than having two (or more) tests with identical sets of responses, or identical answers. Having a great interest in this topic, I have read carefully the abstracts of Rice University Honor Council meetings where these types of allegations [...]

There is a children’s game known by various names as “Whisper,” “Secrets,” or “Gossip” where a secret is shared and passed from one player to the next. The last player hearing the secret says it aloud, often with hilarious results. These same distortions happen in the news media, as journalists cite other reports or each [...]

Elf mistress Heloise entered Elvin’s office (Head of Section K) quickly. “For the eighth week in a row, the reject rate from Section K is three times the rate from the previous twelve months,” she said, handing the weekly quality report to Elvin. She continued, “I was so impressed when your section scored higher on [...]

In 1965, Gordon Moore of Intel observed that transistor densities were doubling roughly every 2 years. Since then the exponential nature of faster, smaller and more powerful computational units has continued. Initially, the observation was a remarkable statement of trends. Later, it became an expectation. And, it is now considered an unrelenting challenge for high [...]

Beginning New Year’s Day 2008, lottery ticket retailers in Ontario will have a new set of rules to follow if they will continue selling lottery tickets. “Most of the changes are the result of Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin and his scathing investigation of the province’s lottery corporation.” http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEvfDbJoJ7C3KoaNxekmT8DuUDNA The previous set of rules allowed lottery [...]

As more and more online courses are developed and offered, instructors of online courses need to consider the potential for cheating on the assessments. The following article describes some measures being implemented by FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University): http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=16460&z=3&p= One of the measures is to track IP addresses and determine if more than one test [...]

A senior from Manatee High School passed the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) in ten minutes by using a “secret pattern” after flunking the test three times. His score was invalidated. Apparently the test score was not invalidated because he used a pattern. Carla Frazier told the news, “FCAT rules do not prohibit students completing [...]

A student at the Dayton School of Law is suing the school because it did not fix a glitch in the test administration software that allowed other students to upload pre-written exam answers during the exam. He feels disadvantaged because he had to type in his answers, while others uploaded their answers electronically. http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/11/22/ddn112307lawschool.html The [...]

The other day a woman in the UK was caught in a lie where she fabricated the existence of seven children to receive government benefits. She claimed to have given birth to quadruplets in 2005, to twins (who were delivered one week apart) in the same year, and then to a seventh child in 2007. [...]