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<p>It is not cheap to do it well. </p>
<p>ETS and TCB are indeed spending small fortunes in designing and testing the validity of the tests. The ACT organization, however, is demonstrating that having a “successful” test and a good one is not the same thing. The need to spend a lot of money on design and historical validation was never present in Iowa.</p>
<p>I would not be surprised to hear of a computer-based SAT fairly soon. After all, there’s a free SAT online practice test on the SAT website ([Free</a> SAT Practice Test - Prepare for the SAT](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>Downloadable Full-Length SAT Practice Tests – SAT Suite)). It includes a machine-graded essay.</p>
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<p>Anyone remember the scandal involving Chinese cheating on the SAT a number of years back? They had “professional” test takers taking the exam in the US. They wrote down all the answers. They had pencils manufactured so that the answers were written down the pencil in special characters. The pencils were given to test takers in other cities. All they had to do was copy the answers from the pencils. They accomplished this in under 3 hours, IIRC. I think that’s when the College Board stopped giving the same exam in different countries on the same day.</p>
<p>From the point of view of ETS and TCB, it’s not important to eliminate cheating completely. It’s only necessary to eliminate the belief that massive cheating occurs, because that would affect belief in the test as being a useful college-admissions indicator. </p>
<p>Paper currency works on a similar belief system – everyone knows that counterfeit currency exists, but few in the US carefully scrutinize their return bills and bank withdrawals because counterfeits are relatively rare. I have been to countries, however, that refused to accept US $50 and $100 bills due to the prevalence of local counterfeits (which is why our currency gets redesigned more often these days).</p>
<p>@stressedouttt, I checked out the link you posted about the student in SKorea who is upset about the test cancellation. </p>
<p>I was struck by this complaint:
It illustrates everything that is wrong with using the SAT for college admissions. </p>
<p>Doesn’t the “A” in SAT stand for “Aptitude”, i.e. “inherent ability”? With all the cramming that students now do to prepare for this test, and with all the super-scoring that goes on, the test has long ceased to be a reliable measure of inherent aptitude, but only a measure of cram skills.</p>
<p>I can appreciate why grades are so important, because unlike the SAT, it is generally not possible to superscore grades.</p>
<p>Regarding a computer-based test, ACT, Inc. recently announced that it will begin offering computer-based versions of the ACT starting in 2015 for tests that are given in school during the school day.</p>
<p>GMT, the A in SAT stands for … nothing. SAT only stands for SAT. </p>
<p>Fig, I read the announcements of the CAT ACT a few days ago, and wondered when I could start being remotely impressed by a product of that group. I do not think that it will happen anytime soon.</p>
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<p>Ir used to stand for that but it doesn’t any more. They dropped that pretense years ago.</p>
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<p>Well, let’s keep in mind the complexity of having to remember the terms and answer the questions in a language that is very different than one’s native tongue. I do think one would have to spend weeks to get “in the zone” to do well under such circumstances.</p>
<p>Aren’t South Korean academics much more difficult than US ones? SK teenagers should have no problem doing well on the SAT without cheating.</p>
<p>redhuntinghat -</p>
<p>The SAT is in ENGLISH, and has multiple cultural assumptions written into it. It is designed to assess the skills of students educated in English in the US. The CR section is extremely difficult for those students who have not been educated in the US and who have not prepped extensively. Even with the Hangwons, that so many Korean students do as well as they do on the SAT is some kind of miracle.</p>
<p>U.S. colleges don’t expect foreign students to have the same level of English proficiency & same level of verbal SAT scores as U.S. residents. That’s why the TOEFL exists.</p>
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<p>Sure, but you still have to be one of the best applicants in your country to get accepted to an elite US college – and elite colleges are what Asian applicants (or their parents) most desire.</p>
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<p>But if they get a copy of the test in advance I’d say their scores are rather less miraculous.</p>
<p>Seems to me that any int’l student w outrageously high verbal scores, who hasn’t been educated in an English-language school, should be suspect.</p>
<p>Whoops. Posted on wrong thread & can’t delete</p>
<p>Do elite colleges actually take SAT results from international students at face value given the massive test security problems that are known to exist? At least at MIT international students can submit the TOEFL instead of the SAT or the ACT which suggests to me that MIT admissions is somewhat skeptical of international SAT results.</p>
<p>Honestly, the easiest (but costliest) solution would be specialized locking mechsanisms on the boxes containing the tests. </p>
<p>These locks would be set to open right at the time of administration, and if any intrusion (forced break in) is detected, it would send a message to college board’s headquarters. </p>
<p>Sounds really sci-fi esque but its one of the only surefire ways I can think of to secure a test like this.</p>