Since I didn't get the chance to post Caveon Security's Cheating Roundup from the 12th, here you go. Everything from cheating Kiwis to those who insist that camera phones are better "regulated" than banned outright, because we all know kids never cheat with those things:
The cheating scenario is a stretch from the get-go. Cellphones used that way would be too conspicuous in any classroom where the teacher is paying even minimal attention. Besides, the camera function isn't a key to that kind of cheating. Current phone screens display text, and — though it would take a little more stealth — a cheater could message the questions.
Rather than outright cheating, it seems more likely that students might snap a quick photo of the FCAT tests and perhaps post the questions on the Web. I'm not sure that having a ban makes that kind of espionage less likely. In fact, I'll bet it happens soon, if for no other reason than to protest Gov. Bush's refusal to make FCAT tests from previous years public.
So, kids don't cheat with camera-phones, except when they're engaged in this honorable form of civil protest, is that it?
And here's another instance of test score cancellations due to "tampering" (love those euphemisms!):
Eighth-graders who recently graduated from Sunset Ridge School won't be able to compare their math skills to other Illinois students when the state reports standardized test scores this fall. After investigating an incident of test tampering at the Northfield school in April, the Illinois State Board of Education has said it will withhold the tainted math portion of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test for the 80 students believed to have been affected...
The state has not yet said if it will revoke the Illinois teaching certificate of Dave Bailis, the third-year math teacher who resigned two days after his students noticed numerous changes to their tests. Bailis denied making the changes and tendered his resignation on the grounds he failed to ensure the security of the tests.
Students alerted Bailis to the changes during third period on their second day of math testing. Administrators discovered while questioning students and faculty that changes had also been made to the tests from the second day's first-period eighth-grade math class. When administrators asked Bailis what he was doing during second period, when changes were likely made, Bailis said he was at a grocery store buying Jolly Ranchers candy, according to an 18-page internal investigation released by the district last week. Administrators could not verify Bailis's claim.
That's an...interesting alibi. Note to Bailis: Years of watching true crime shows has taught me that the police tend to be suspicious of anyone who can instantly recall, down to the tiniest detail, exactly what they were doing at a time when a crime occurred. Innocent people tend to forget what they were doing and have to check their calendars; guilty people instantly offer up a detailed alibi. The "Jolly Ranchers" part cinches it for me.
Posted by kswygert at August 23, 2004 02:08 PM