SAT: that notorious acronym that consumes your junior and senior years of high school. Unfortunately, it has been ingrained in students’ minds that spending four long hours at a small desk in a stuffy room determines the rest of their lives. As a result, some students will go to great lengths to get high scores.
Opinion
It wouldn’t be surprising if the answer were a resounding no. The blame for cheating is placed on the competitive college application process, but that’s not the only source of the problem. Why hasn’t anyone considered the procedures for exam day?
If Eshagoff was able to commit this crime for six students, one of whom, according to the New York Times article “After Arrest, a Wider Inquiry on SAT Cheating,” was a female, then security is a serious issue.
Before the exam, proctors are expected to check student identification. Not all proctors hired to oversee the testing are necessarily equipped to determine the legitimacy of a student ID. According to the Times article, the validity of Eshagoff’s identification was never questioned, yet he used fake IDs to sit for the students.
Furthermore, there are no significant consequences for cheaters. If any irregularities are detected on examinees’ tests, then their scores are voided. The consequence? Setting aside four hours to take the test again, during which time they could plan another way to cheat – a new method that might be successful. The procedures on test day are so relaxed that it appears that the College Board is turning a blind eye to cheaters.
In order for the SATs to be an accurate measure of college level readiness, College Board needs to make internal changes.
If colleges are factoring test scores into their admissions decisions, then they run the risk of admitting a student who will continue to cheat, only this time, on their college campuses.