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Hempfield boy, 10, orders 'secure' PSSA test with ease
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | April 18, 2009 | Richard Gazarik

Posted on 04/18/2009 9:07:07 PM PDT by Shethink13

A 10-year-old Westmoreland County boy "playing school" cracked the tight security surrounding Pennsylvania's standardized assessment tests by obtaining the codes to place an online order for a box of the closely guarded exams.

State Education Department officials were shocked by the events involving the student, a fifth-grader at Bovard Elementary School in the Hempfield Area School District.

(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: pssa
Just thought this was interesting in a funny kind of way...
1 posted on 04/18/2009 9:07:07 PM PDT by Shethink13
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To: Shethink13
by obtaining the codes to place an online order for a box of the closely guarded exams

And then again... there are those who actually believe in the fable that the government best knows how to solve our problems...

2 posted on 04/18/2009 9:10:35 PM PDT by John123 (The US may be going down the drain, but everyone else will drown first...)
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To: Shethink13

This kid a future leet haxor?


3 posted on 04/18/2009 9:12:03 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Beat a better path, and the world will build a mousetrap at your door.)
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To: Shethink13

The kid should get an automatic pass. He’s obviously smarter than the professional educators.


4 posted on 04/18/2009 9:12:35 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Shethink13

Hempfield...would that be near Pottstown?;)


5 posted on 04/18/2009 9:15:15 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: Shethink13
"Only the school district's test coordinator can order tests. It's a very secure system."

Apparently not.

6 posted on 04/18/2009 9:18:30 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin is a smart missile aimed at the heart of the left!)
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To: Shethink13
"Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?"

Apparently not...

7 posted on 04/18/2009 9:20:42 PM PDT by redhead (Note to Congress: YOU'RE FIRED!!)
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To: Shethink13

If this resulted in a PC distribution of test scores, these administrators would fight tooth and nail to prevent disclosure.


8 posted on 04/18/2009 9:22:53 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: John123
And then again... there are those who actually believe in the fable that the government best knows how to solve our problems...

Not to worry, our medical records are secure...

9 posted on 04/18/2009 9:23:03 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 88 of our national holiday from reality.)
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To: Shethink13
Isn't OUR GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR HACKERS?

we're FN' DOOMED!!

10 posted on 04/18/2009 9:23:56 PM PDT by shadowcat
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To: PAR35
He’s obviously smarter than the professional educators.

just remember back to college... who majored in "education", "poly sci." and "journalism".... ????

One of my kids came to me to help with her statistics homework cause the teacher couldn't do the problems or explain how my daughter got the wrong answer on a test. Even with the text book. Apparently the "teachers" manual was misplaced so she just gave out the problems and checked the answer sheet.

I tell my kids to do all the problems in the text, correct the wrong answers on all the tests and show me their work.

11 posted on 04/18/2009 9:25:29 PM PDT by erman (Outside of a dog, a book is man's best companion. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.)
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To: PAR35
>>>He’s obviously smarter than the professional educators.<<<

It's not nice to "damn by faint praise" - particularly a little 10 year old kid!!

12 posted on 04/18/2009 9:28:57 PM PDT by HardStarboard ("The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule - Mencken knew Obama)
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To: PAR35

I’ll make a guess that the password was a four-digit number...nothing more. I know of numerous individuals who play this light-password game and just don’t get the implications. There is a reason why it should be eight numbers and digits.


13 posted on 04/18/2009 9:32:07 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: John123

All he did was order extra tests which were sent to the school district warehouse. They caught him when they noticed them, and viewed the order form.

It’s an embarrassment, but the kid did not breach the security surrounding the test contents.


14 posted on 04/18/2009 9:46:13 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: dr_lew
All he did was order extra tests which were sent to the school district warehouse. They caught him when they noticed them, and viewed the order form. It’s an embarrassment, but the kid did not breach the security surrounding the test contents.

He breached mailing access security, and was within one more step of being able to redirect a mailing to another location, which would have enabled breaching test contents. In fact, he may have been able to redirect a mailing, and simply chose not to, because the primary breach was his only hacking goal. All in all, it was more than a mere embarrassment, I think. More like a bitch slap, considering his age.

15 posted on 04/18/2009 11:11:01 PM PDT by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on it's own.)
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To: Talisker
In fact, he may have been able to redirect a mailing, and simply chose not to,...

On what basis do you make this statement? It seems to go beyond the information provided in the article.

16 posted on 04/18/2009 11:18:54 PM PDT by dr_lew
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