suppose an organization in one American city (not ETS or some giant like that, just a random outfit on a low budget) wants to give a proctored exam of its own devising to a group of people in another American city. So the idea is that at time T a bunch of these testees are supposed to show up in location L, the proctor should verify their ids and administer the test (either paper-based or possibly even computer-based), then send papers or whatever other results to the client for grading. Is there already a service of this sort available in America, either from private business or from quasi public / educational institutions? How much would it cost?
Further, can similar things be arranged overseas? E.g. is there a way to remotely arrange for proctored exams for people in Mexico, India or China? How much would it cost?
Prometric does this for a lot of technical certifications, as well as things like CPA exams. They have operations in 135 countries. They’ve been passed around a bit lately with mergers, and at the moment, they are a division of ETS.
Pearson VUE handles a lot of medical exams and insurance industry exams, and is in 165 countries.
I would imagine your local public library will do it, potentially for free. You will have to send the testing materials to the library with instructions for proctoring, as well as the means for returning the materials, ie postage paid envelopes.
I know that every fall, we have some people from some fire sprinkler group come in to all take the same test at the same time. From the proctor information they send, I don’t believe it is a regionally coordinated thing though. There is just a deadline for when the tests must be completed by. We also proctor lots of school tests for distance learners.
Please note that most libraries do not have a “controlled” environment. At the most, it is generally just a table or two by a public service desk and a request that people follow the testing instructions. Few libraries will have the resources to be able to task someone solely for watching over test takers.
I can’t imagine a library would be willing. I’ve proctored exams, and for the process to have any credibility, you need to dedicate multiple people to watching the test-takers, even to the point of escorting them to the restroom to ensure they haven’t hidden notes in the paper towel dispenser.
The last exam I proctored had something like five proctors staring at 16 test-takers.
I had some online classes where you could choose anyone you wanted to be the proctor, as long as the professor didn’t disqualify that person for whatever reason.