The dead grandmother exam / syndrome is — or rather, should be — in the news. British students, teachers and parents are upset about the official policy concerning what happens when a student’s relative or pet has died just before the student takes an exam. The BBC produced a news story about this on May 8, 2005, and there are many other press accounts.
The dead grandmother exam / syndrome has been notably ignored, for the most part, in the discussion. Mike Adams of Eastern Connecticut State University wrote the definitive analysis of this syndrome. His article, titled "The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome," was published in the November/December 1999 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. (This was a special Education issue.) As Professor Adams puts it:
The basic problem can be stated very simply: A student’s grandmother is far more likely to die suddenly just before the student takes an exam, than at any other time of year.
(Thanks to Leslie Lawrence and Kevin Rhoads for alerting us to the British turmoil.)