test ringer
朝からぶったまげました。"What?"の世界です。あのETSが行っているPraxis test（教員採用資格試験）における替え玉受験疑惑です。こんなことが可能だったなんて、驚きを禁じ得ません。その影響ははかり知れません。
test ringerは、Praxisのようなring test（重層試験—複数の受験がある試験、アメリカでは通常１次から３次試験が多い、なお、３次試験は着任した1年目（entry year）の新人教師の授業を評価し、適切な授業を行っていないと評価されると不合格になる）の替え玉受験するプロの試験請負人ということでしょうか。（UG）
Feds: Teachers Embroiled in Test-Taking Fraud
It was a brazen and surprisingly long-lived scheme, authorities said, to help aspiring public school teachers cheat on the tests they must pass to prove they are qualified to lead their classrooms.
For 15 years, teachers in three Southern states paid Clarence Mumford Sr. — himself a longtime educator — to send someone else to take the tests in their place, authorities said. Each time, Mumford received a fee of between $1,500 and $3,000 to send one of his test ringers with fake identification to the Praxis exam. In return, his customers got a passing grade and began their careers as cheaters, according to federal prosecutors in Memphis.
Authorities say the scheme affected hundreds — if not thousands — of public school students who ended up being taught by unqualified instructors.
Mumford faces more than 60 fraud and conspiracy charges that claim he created fake driver's licenses with the information of a teacher or an aspiring teacher and attached the photograph of a test-taker. Prospective teachers are accused of giving Mumford their Social Security numbers for him to make the fake identities.
The hired-test takers went to testing centers, showed the proctor the fake license, and passed the certification exam, prosecutors say. Then, the aspiring teacher used the test score to secure a job with a public school district, the indictment alleges. Fourteen people have been charged with mail and Social Security fraud, and four people have pleaded guilty to charges associated with the scheme.
Mumford "obtained tens of thousands of dollars" during the alleged conspiracy, which prosecutors say lasted from 1995 to 2010 in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/feds-teachers-embroiled-test-taking-fraud-17803902#.ULKryhy9zIg
以下、安易ですがWikipediaでのPraxisの説明です。
A Praxis test is one of a series of American teacher certification exams written and administered by the Educational Testing Service. Various Praxis tests are usually required before, during, and after teacher training courses in the U.S.
In order to be a teacher in most states in the US, the Praxis test is required. It usually consists of two separate tests, Praxis 1 and 2. In some states, alternative teacher certification programs allow prospective educators obtain licensure without taking Praxis tests.
The Praxis I, or Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST), consists of three exams: reading, writing, and mathematics. In most colleges and universities, a passing score must be earned for admission to teacher education. In most states, a passing score must be earned before the teacher education graduate can apply for his or her teaching license or certificate.
The Praxis II assessments cover many different subject areas. Each education major requires a different combination of Praxis II exams. In some states, students must pass these exams before being accepted into the student teaching component of the program. Many states use the Praxis II tests as a way to determine highly qualified status under the No Child Left Behind Act. The Praxis II School Counseling specialty exam is used by some states as a licensure requirement to practice professional school counseling.
The Praxis III occurs during the entry year of teaching. A trained assessor visits the entry year teacher in their classroom and observes a lesson. The Praxis III also consists of a pre-observation interview and a post-observation interview to be completed the day of the observation.
It replaced the National Teacher Examination (NTE), also administered by ETS.
