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USA TODAY

December 16, 1994, Friday, FINAL EDITION

Computerized test hits glitch / Cheating possible on grad exam

A computerized version of the exam used for entrance to graduate schools has been put on hold after agents from a test-coaching firm showed that it's easy to cheat on the exam.

The computer-adaptive version of the Graduate Record Exam was heralded last year as the next generation of standardized test. The software shifts to harder or easier questions, depending on answers. That allows a valid score with fewer questions and permits students to schedule exams on almost any day of the week.

But Kaplan Educational Centers sent 20 employees to take the GRE and memorize questions, to prove security flaws. Their list of questions was given to Educational Testing Service, maker of the GRE, but will not be used in Kaplan courses, says its president Jonathan Grayer.

Grayer says it's easier to compromise the computer test than the paper-and-pencil version. The pool of questions is large but went unchanged for an extended period of time. The pool on the pencil tests is changed each time it's given.

Nancy Cole, ETS president, says the company will reduce the length of time the same pool of questions is used. She adds ETS won't give the GRE computerized test the final week of December and will cut down the number of weeks each month the test is offered in the future, to reduce opportunities for takers to become familiar with questions.

Copyright 1994 Gannett Company, Inc.

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