CHEATING SCANDAL EMERGES AFTER AUGUST SAT QUESTIONS LEAK

Many students put a great deal of pressure on themselves to do well on the SAT. They spend countless hours preparing for the test to ensure that they receive the best score possible. However, during the SAT administered on Aug. 25, many students had an unforeseen advantage. College Board, the organization that runs the SAT, had reused questions from an SAT test administered in October 2017. Prior to the test on Aug. 25, the questions and answers from the test began to circulate online where students were able to access them. After these recent events, College Board must be more vigilant to prevent students from receiving unfair advantages and to stop undermining honest students.

College Board’s error greatly stressed many who took the August test. When news of the scandal spread, many were calling for the scores to be invalidated. However, had College Board gone through with this, it would have greatly inconvenienced students. Many students needed those scores for early action and early decision college applications, as this was the last SAT score they could receive prior to submitting applications.

“There would be many more honest people affected [by the scandal] than people who were dishonest,” senior Serin Bok said. “I think College Board should try to fix the issue for future administrations of the SAT instead of [threatening to cancel] the August SAT scores, as many people truly worked hard and studied [for] the test.”

During a similar situation in 2016, many began questioning the security of the SAT test after it was revealed that College Board continued to administer tests despite the fact that many of the answers were posted online, allowing students to access test questions before taking the test. In response, College Board released a statement in which they claimed that reusing questions has always been a common practice, but claimed that it has only recently become an issue because of the instant communication that comes with the growth of modern technology.

However, College Board uses advancements in technology as a scapegoat. Questions are only reused so that new questions do not have to be written, which saves College Board time and money. College Board should end the practice of reusing questions altogether, and their refusal to end this demonstrates their indifference and lack of responsibility.

“I feel that despite the presence or absence of technology, the SAT should never reuse questions,” junior Derrick Kim said. “There is always a possibility that some test takers have seen them before.”

College Board should be aware of the pressure students are under to do well and the lengths to which they will go to succeed. It should therefore take precautions to prevent cheating incidents from occurring rather than completely relying on students to abstain from accessing test questions online.

“College Board is the most at fault here,” senior Shioka Chetanna said. “They are the ones reusing questions in the first place, and they know that teenagers will try to find a way to get around things.”

Test questions being leaked was an inexcusable error on College Board’s part that could have been prevented. Instead of blaming technology for making cheating easier, it should stop reusing questions.

“Creating fair tests will provide opportunities for students to see the benefits of working hard,” Bok said. “The SAT test would also be viewed as more credible. The main goal of College Board should be to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”