<p><a href=“Stop the Cheating: An Open Letter to the College Board and ACT | HuffPost Latest News”>Stop the Cheating: An Open Letter to the College Board and ACT | HuffPost Latest News;
<p>I wonder if parents know about their offsprings cheating. I wonder how many students who place in the top percentiles cheat. </p>
<p>Other kids cheat; my kids are just preparing for the real world.</p>
<p>Parents who prep their kids for the gifted program in first grade cheat. The kids learn what they are taught.</p>
<p>Kids at the highest percentile don’t need to cheat, and near all of their test scores are at the highest percentile (hard to cheat your way to the 99th across the board). But even so, in every score range there will be kids striving for the next level and willing to cheat to get there. Obviously, you need to care about your score to be willing to cheat, so I would guess cheating tendency is somewhat correlated to ambition of college plans, at least more so than to a given score range.</p>
<p>Also, lots of parents in certain demographics who complain/worry about other kids cheating on these tests would sell their left kidney to get their own kid qualified for extra time. Only a slight exaggeration of behavior I have seen repeatedly with my own eyes.</p>
<p>This is shocking. I didn’t realize testing center rules were so lax. Why are the kids being allowed cell phones during testing hours? Why are they allowed to talk during breaks–isn’t there supposed to be a rule against this? Why isn’t seating assigned? Why aren’t monitors also in the back of the room and kids being dismissed if they take out a cell phone during the exam? Why are test forms designed so that kids can see and change answers to previous sections?</p>
<p>I suspect though, that while cheating may be rampant at some sites, that many sites are better monitored. I do think I would have heard some complaint from my daughter if the kids at her site were cheating.</p>
<p>“I wonder how many students who place in the top percentiles cheat.” This is probably easier said than done. Who would you cheat from if you’re the best student in the room? Who would you trust to have a better answer? I suspect it’s more likely the kids in the high but not top percentiles who care enough to do this and know that someone else is more likely to be right.</p>
<p>My 23 y/o said the phone and looking up the answers goes as far back as 2007 when she took it, she saw it happen at both SAT and ACT testing sites. </p>
<p>Ask your kids, bet every one of them have seen cheating going on.</p>
<p>My testing site was pretty secure. Volunteer staff was roaming the entire time. There was assigned seating. If student left calculators on desk, they were removed. Students could talk to others with the same form during break, but any benefit from doing so would require them to memorize questions and answers. You’d have to be quick though, as breaks were only a few minutes. The students would then have to fill in previous sections without getting caught, which would’ve been challenging. Everyone was made to sit opposite from each other, and the table partners had different forms. All computers were off, no one took their phone out, etc. </p>
<p>i wonder if there are any testing sights where the proctors just turn a blind eye… </p>
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<p>Possibly - however most proctors understand the consequences if they “turn a blind eye” and an incidence is reported.</p>
<p>Or maybe they don’t? Based off the article.</p>
<p>“Kids used their own calculators, many of which were programmed for certain math equations and problems.”
How is this cheating? I have a TI NSPIRE CX CAS, and it doesn’t help me at all on the SAT. Any algebra that can be done on it is very basic and can be done mentally or on paper in less then 5 seconds. This clearly shows the writer has no clue what she is talking about. </p>
<p>Isn’t the calculator supposed to be cleared at the beginning of the test? Or is that another test I’m thinking of?</p>
<p>You are not required to clear the memory on your calculator.–
<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>www.sat.collegeboard.org/register/calculator-policy</a></p>
<p>@gba123 Not everyone is as smart to memorize or be able to complete math formulas/equations in 5 seconds. You have to realize that there are all kinds of people taking it, from people who are still in Algebra 1 to those in BC Calc and even MVC.</p>
<p>FYI, I got an 800 in Math. I think it’s easy. I just know that not everyone thinks it is.</p>
<p>More importantly, stop the ambiguity. </p>
<p>In my experiences, its a little harder to cheat than the article describes. Seats were randomly assigned by the proctor (although if they weren’t, chances of copying a friends paper is pretty slim as the rooms are divided alphabetically; despite my high school being the test location, there were often only 5 or so students from my school in each room). I’ve heard people discussing test questions, but more so in general contexts; in order to cheat in this manner one would have to memorize test questions and answers, and hope that someone they asked knew the correct answer. I doubt there’s much reward.</p>
<p>Although I do believe that cheating is an issue, in my experiences it is not as dramatized as the author of this article describes. </p>
<p>The way SAT testing is run where I am is very lax. I just don’t see the point of cheating- the only thing I struggle with is math, and a lot of the math problems you couldn’t exactly look up on Google. (ex. find y in this circle given that x…how exactly does one “google” that) besides graphing calculators are allowed and you could get more out of it than trying to search the answer online. I think the redesigned SAT (which I won’t get a chance to take) will be even more focused on eliminating the ability to cheat by presenting questions that require thinking.</p>
<p>So, in essence, while I could be cheating easily, it wouldn’t exactly work. You could always talk to other kids about it during break, which is also totally possible where I am, but it wouldn’t be quite worth it. They may not have the right answer. Cheating on the SAT, as parents may not realize, is totally doable, but it’s not worth it and won’t produce results.</p>
<p>I see a lot of problems with this post</p>
<p>The biggest is the calculator one. There is absolutely no problem with programs. Oftentimes, the problem does NOT need a program, especially for the ACT/SAT I. In fact, I would go as far as to say using a program on these tests takes longer than just using the normal calculator functions. For the SAT II Math tests (which is the only test that would require a calculator) the program would give a very very minor leg up. It’s not cheating, it’s simply knowing how to efficiently use a calculator, and by the way, if you have access to a computer you have access to programs; no socioeconomic status will bar you from this. The SAT II Math tests are designed so that you do not need to memorize formulas, which is why they don’t make you clear your memory.</p>
<p>Second, the problem concerning the location of students is very rare. I’ve been to four separate locations for standardized testing and I’ve ALWAYS been assigned a seat and a room number. It’s pretty inconceivable to me that I would get the same room as a friend, let alone a person that I’m intentionally trying to sit next to, and even more inconceivable that a large group of people would be able to do this. </p>
<p>Third, there’s no way a student would be able to get away with texting every of their answers to another student for the entirety of a test, I don’t care how incompetent a proctor might be, they would have to DELIBERATELY be allowing them to do this for them not to notice a phone out the whole time. Plus, there is very limited time for these tests, and this is basically adding much more time to every problem that could probably be solved without relying on a student to give answers. Even if students actually do this, there’s no way that it would cause that big of a problem that a whole curve would be altered because their scores would marginally increase, if at all.</p>
<p>Fourth, many many answers for the SAT and ACT CANNOT be “looked up” on the phone. This would only apply to SAT II tests, and even some of these would produce diminishing returns since you only have ~5 minutes per break</p>
<p>There’s no doubt that these practices wouldn’t change the curve of the test or increase a students score that much that they are increasing competition for a scholarship/college admissions. Even if they get away with it, there a still probably very very few cheaters, and if it works, it wouldn’t improve their scores that much. Plus, people cheating that much most likely have very low standards in school, meaning that very competitive programs probably wouldn’t consider them with their other stats/ECs. This article is highly dramatized and is probably based off like two kids’ testimonials that are even more dramatized. It shouldn’t be taken as is. </p>