Certification Board for Crane Operators Revokes Nearly 1,000 Exams for Cheating
Plus, another coincidence with Copyleaks and Chegg. Plus, good news on cheating in Australia. Plus, a Class Note.
Issue 231
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Certification Board Revokes Nearly 1,000 Exams for Crane Operators Due to Exam Cheating
The San Antonio Express has the story (paywall) of a federal lawsuit involving organized cheating on the certification exams to become a crane operator - yes, cranes.
In their legal documents, The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (CCO) says it was:
forced to invalidate nearly 1,000 written and practical exams with evidence of collusion and/or lack of reliable evidence of validity
That’s because, they say, exam proctors were taking money to pass applicants who, in some cases, did not even show up for their exams. The paid-off proctors simply filled in the correct answers. In practical exams, where license applicants have to actually operate a crane, the proctors simply lied about the results.
During the course of the inquiry about the exam fraud, CCO says:
Some 270 candidates with invalidated exams were required to retake their exams, the CCO said. Only 38 of those candidates, or 14 percent, passed
In other words, only 38 of 270 people with licenses to operate cranes could actually demonstrate competency. Nice.
The press release from CCO says:
Many candidates who attempted to retest failed their exams by a wide margin, while most candidates did not attempt to retest at all. Consequently, a large number of certificants had their certifications withdrawn.
The release continues that CCO:
referred 136 individuals to the CCO Ethics and Discipline (E&D) Committee. After reviewing each case on its merits and holding a series of hearings, the E&D Committee imposed program sanctions on more than 100 candidates and certificants based on forensic and other evidence of misconduct.
Frankly, I am terrified.
This one rates right up there with the case in Miami where people were cheating on exams to be elevator repair technicians (see Issue 164).
But there is more. And I cannot stress this enough - in both cases, the fraud was uncovered by a tip, not because anyone at the accreditation authority noticed. The news coverage says:
after receiving the tip, the CCO says its “Program Integrity Team” opened an investigation
I am sorry, I really am - but what is the “Program Integrity Team” doing if they’re not spotting exam fraud at the scale of nearly 1,000 exams? I mean, the story says the alleged main perpetrator was selling “test insurance” to guarantee exam passage. I confess, I don’t get it. Is no one comparing passage rates and average scores from the various test centers and proctors?
Don’t answer that.
And I have to ask what seems like the next, obvious question. If the CCO found this level of fraud at one testing cluster in Texas, what are the odds there are others?
Don’t answer that either.
And for the love of Peter, Paul, and Mary, we’re talking about crane operators here. I want to scream.
Two final points in the context of exam security.
For one, it’s accepted that personal exam supervision, and in-person exam delivery, is the most secure method. And I buy that it is, nine times in ten. But it is not without holes, and serious ones at that. On-site exam proctors can be bribed, intimidated, and compromised. A reminder, this vulnerability was also at the heart of the over-hyped “Varsity Blues” admissions scandals.
And finally, in their lawsuit, the CCO says the accused cheaters caused:
irreparable damage to its business relations, goodwill, and future business relations and efforts, which harm will be extremely difficult to calculate.
You bet they did.
My point is that, when cheating scandals erupt, they cause enormous damage to the credibility of the credential-giver. Many schools and professional testing bodies try to deal with this by hushing-up security issues or pretending they don’t happen. That never works. I’d argue instead that whatever it costs to secure your assessments in the first place, it’s worth it.
You think having more secure tests and an active integrity team is costly? You think reputational damage is expensive? Just wait until your insurance carrier calls.
Seriously. Crane. Operators.
So, I Missed This - upGrad and Coincidences
In less than a week, I’ll be speaking to the National College Testing Association (NCTA). And, to prepare, I’ve been reviewing and reading past issues of The Cheat Sheet - all 240 of them, give or take. In doing so, I connected two dots, which I admit, I missed earlier.
The dots are about upGrad an Indian online education company that advertises partnerships with American colleges including the University of Maryland, Duke University, and Deakin College, which is in Australia.
Back in March, in Issue 194, I noted that the CEO of cheating profiteer Chegg, Dan Rosenweig, had been appointed to the upGrad Board of Directors. I thought it was a revealing choice for an education company to cozy up to Chegg.
Then, in May, in Issue 208, I was writing about the business relationships between plagiarism detection company Copyleaks and cheating providers Chegg and Course Hero. As an important aside, it’s a story no one has challenged and I continue to think that a company selling academic integrity services while being paid by cheating providers is a major issue. But maybe I’m the only one.
Nonetheless, in sharing the Copyleaks/Chegg/Course Hero connections, I wrote that Copyleaks had announced a deal with - guess who?
Ding! upGrad, where Chegg’s CEO is a Board Member.
I am sure it’s just a coincidence.
More than 100 Accused of Cheating Advanced Academic Tests in Australia, Which is Great
The Age, a media site in Australia, reports that (paywall) more than 100 students were accused of exam misconduct during recent VCE exams. The VCE exams are:
The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is one of the qualifications you can get if you finish Year 11 and 12 at high school in Victoria. After completing the VCE students get an ATAR score to use to apply for university or TAFE.
That’s according to this site I found while Googling “What is the VCE.”
Expert badge, unlocked.
Anyway, the actual number of accused is 110 and I think it’s good news because reporting says 82,000 students took the exams. So, 110 is minuscule. And 15 of those 110 involved continuing to write past the timed deadline.
Moreover, this does not appear to be one of those ‘we aren’t looking for cheating so we’re not seeing any’ deals. The reporting says security provisions include:
a mammoth operation that each year involves secure courier vans full of exam papers, precise measurements between desks and supervisors stationed statewide to monitor [the tests]
They say:
The authority targeted two exams last year using data analysis. Papers that returned a similar pattern of answers to another raised a red flag for further examination. From there, supervisors looked at evidence such as seating plans to determine if students could have been cheating.
Impressive, actually.
The trends of accused misconduct are also mild. Even though the authority says incidents are up compared to the past two years, they are on par with pre-pandemic numbers. In 2019, there were 103 incidents.
What is more noteworthy is that requests for special considerations during the exams are increasing significantly:
In 2022, 8235 students were given special exam arrangements – an increase of 155.7 per cent from 3221 in 2013 and a 16.2 per cent increase from 2021.
Almost half of the approved special provisions (41.8 per cent) were given for a mental health condition and 20.3 per cent were approved due to a health impairment.
Assessment security and integrity leaders are going to have to address this issue, and soon.
But still, pretty well done. At least according to this expert.
Class Notes:
As I have already shamelessly mentioned, I will be in Las Vegas next week at speak to the conference of the National College Testing Association.
This means there probably won’t be issues of The Cheat Sheet next week. Maybe Tuesday, but probably not. It depends on how prepared I feel for Wednesday’s remarks.
Either way, regular Issues will resume on Tuesday, August 22.
As always, thank you for reading, caring, and for your support.