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 [...]

Recently there have been many reports of lost databases, stolen computers, and misplaced documents. Is it any wonder that tests and exams are also experiencing the same problems? For example, last November in New Zealand the home of an employee of the Qualification Authority was burglarized and a laptop containing math items for the National [...]

Just last week a five-year old boy was detained by TSA (Transportation Security Administration) because his name was similar to a suspected terrorist on the no-fly list. The reporter wrote, “A five-year-old boy was taken into custody and thoroughly searched at Sea-Tac because his name is similar to a possible terrorist alias. As the Consumerist [...]

Prognostications are that Mark McGwire will not be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame this year again, because of admitted steroid use. Here is the URL to the article: http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=221516 In 2005, McGwire ducked the direct question whether he had used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Many statisticians think that steroids do not improve performance, [...]

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. [...]