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Friday, August 31, 2007
When Does Test Prep Go Too Far?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A test-prep scandal at the University of Georgia has led to the cancellation of a national examination for aspiring pharmacists, putting the careers of untold numbers of graduates on hold.
According to our story today, it doesn’t appear that answers were provided to UGA students or others preparing for the licensing test. Rather, it seems a pharmacy professor pulled together questions — which former test-takers had reported back to him — and provided them to future test-takers.
The problem? The questions provided — 150 in all — seemed to match nearly verbatim the questions on the actual exam. And, perhaps not so coincidentally, 150 is exactly the number of questions a student must answer correctly to earn professional certification.
Of course, test preparation is a huge industry. You need only walk into your friendly neighborhood bookstore to see that. Even the state Department of Education provides practice tests for its public school exams.
So was this a case of outright cheating or was the professor acting within acceptable test-prep bounds?
UPDATE: According to the latest story from Andrea Jones and Bill Rankin, the pharmacy professor had run into trouble for his test-prep materials before. In 1995, he agreed to “cease and desist” from transcribing, copying or disseminating any questions from the exam.
