On Friday, August 17, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy approved the invalidation of 20 candidates’ National Physical Therapy Exam (“NPTE”) test results. This decision resulted from an extensive forensic analysis of the test performances of all candidates who sat for the NPTE between March 1, 2005 and June 5, 2007.The forensic analysis, conducted by Caveon, a test security company, was commissioned in response to the unlawful trafficking of NPTE questions by Philippines-based exam prep centers. Through its own private investigation efforts, as well as Philippines government surveillance and raids of two Manila test centers in January 2007, FSBPT has confirmed that the centers have distributed to customers compilations of actual NPTE test questions memorized and shared by prior test takers (“recalled items”). In an effort to assess the potential effects of this practice of using recalled test items, Caveon analyzed approximately 23,512 test performances of all NPTE candidates, regardless of place of education.Caveon’s analysis conclusively establishes that at least twenty individuals benefited unfairly from advance access to recalled test items. All twenty candidates are Philippines-educated, some but not all of whom are already licensed to practice physical therapy. FSBPT’s assessment and review of the Caveon forensic analysis is continuing, so as to determine whether additional candidate score invalidation is appropriate.Read more »
Oh dear, there goes our reputation once again. I’m sure all review centers have these practice exams for the NPTE but what’s surprising (and scary!) is that the FSBPT were able to pinpoint the Filipino test takers on this matter. What if those twenty candidates did not cheat but only used the practice exams as a guide in their review? Is that enough to invalidate their test scores? Alright enough questioning. Time to talk about this in our discussion board. I’m curious to find out what other test takers think of this recent outcome.
