ACT Testing Wrongly Accusing Cheating

@SpeakingUp the ACT is different than the College Board.

We are currently dealing with this same situation. They only score act wants to keep is my sin’s first test he took while suffering from a migraine. His gpa supports his lastest scores. We are compiling stories of other ACT victims in an effort to fight them and challenge their policies. Please email me if you are willing to have your story included ashford.angie@gmail.com

I would love to know what you did too. Can you please share more of your story. This could be very helpful to others.

There are many stories above in this blog. Good luck. I will email you.

@ktrrights Are you asking to me?? haha I’m confused cuz there are so many people in this thread

Thank you for all the information regarding your dealings with ACT. We are also in the same situation. My daughter attends a college prep school. We paid for private tutoring for 4months to prep her for ACT. 6 months after she took the test, we received a notification that her test answers and incorrect answers were similar to another examinee. They also stated that the probability of these results were inconsistent with her previous test. My daughter is not a cheater and has never been accused of cheating!! she went from a 19 to a 23. Really?? We are not talking a huge jump. We were outraged and immediately jumped into action to defend my daughter and her reputation, We sent her transcripts, which reflected her good grades. letters of recommendation from her teachers and tutor detailing her hard work and character. The ACT board took at least a month to respond. My daughter graduates next week. We just received the notification today. They still rejected her score!! How do I get them to send me all the test information, seating charts etc?? She has already been accepted to the university of her choice. Not sure if she should go thru arbitration, from what i read no one stands a fair chance with the ACT board!! Should I explain the situation with her admissions counselor?? He was the one who suggested she take the test again just to see if she could improve her score. She went into the test with the attitude Im already accepted, whatever I get I get. Now this. She is completely devastated and embarrassed!! I will join you in any petition against this corrupt organization!!

This is so disturbing. I looked over my daughters ACT reports and on a couple of the sections it says, “college ready but there is room for improvement.” So they entice you to try again for a higher score and then punish you when you achieve it.

Hello Maxlucy02, is there any way to connect. We are still going through this horror and I am trying to learn as much as possible from others. This requires more than a petition. It seems that everyone gets the same letter, the same type of response to all objections. The process gives you a false sense of hope. I think there is minimal chance of any score review getting a positive result.

Note to gallentjill, we called out the ACT on their note about “college ready but there is room for improvement”. This phrase was included on my son’s test results that were questioned. It’s a joke. They want more $ It’s all about money.

Yes would love to connect. Especially since we are going thru this process now. In the letter I wrote to the ACT board. I asked them for witnessed proof of any misconduct and the response they gave me was the proctor can’t possibly keep their eyes on every student for a 3 hour test. Im like excuse me?? Isn’t that their job?? Cant believe I got this ridiculous response from them. I am completely disgusted with them !!
@Ktrights how do i request the seating charts and my daughters actual test?? Does anyone know how long the arbitration process is?

Being accused of cheating on a standardized test can have serious repercussions later in life. For example, what if one needs a security clearance for work ?

Although cheating on standardized tests is a reality, the guilty until proven innocent standard is outrageous & unethical.

But, for those wrongly accused & appealing, why not take a polygraph to bolster your claim that no cheating occurred ?
This would then place the ACT folks in the position of challenging the credibility of the lie detector test administrator (often former FBI agents) as well as the test taker.

Whether or not one is willing to take a polygraph to bolster their claim of innocence, any competent lawyer should be able to beat an unjustified accusation of cheating–as well as some justified accusations.

Although not intended as legal advice, in many jurisdictions one may be able to engage in pre-litigation discovery, however, that stage may not be available until post appeal & post arbitration depending upon the facts & circumstances of one’s particular case.

Remember, the due process clause of the US Constitution & of any state’s constitution are alive & well, and should be thoroughly examined in these types of administrative proceedings. Again, not intended as legal advice, as a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction should be consulted for legal counseling about one’s particular situation. But, typically, these are very winnable cases, in my opinion.

ACT does not inform employers that you cheated.

And, if you submitted a score to colleges that gets invalidated, ACT will just say the score is no longer valid. It doesn’t give the colleges a reason.

You can actually cheat on the test, get caught, get your score invalidated, and no one but you and ACT will know you cheated.

Is this only a problem with the ACT? I assume there is just as much cheating on the SAT but I don’t hear of these kinds of wrongful accusations.

Also, has anyone tried litigating this with an attorney?

For one my daughter did not cheat!!! She worked very hard and was under no pressure to get a better score. She was already accepted to University with the score she had!!

ACT doesn;t care what your GPA is or if you spent hundreds of dollars for private tutoring, or the 5+ letters from her teachers vouching for your character!!

Wow. This is crazy, I’m sorry to hear this.

Regarding the earlier post about the SAT, the SAT flags scores and will do score reviews, as well as cancel. They hold the scores and don’t allow release to schools. This is better than the ACT because if the score is flagged at the beginning they you have options. You can take another test right away or take the ACT instead.

Has anyone on this thread won in arbitration or know of anyone who has won in arbitration? It seems like everyone on this thread has basically the same ideas about information to send to the ACT and the outcome is still bad for the student.

There was a single successful appeal described a few pages back by @kathy00

@mmk2015: Regarding your post #251 in this thread. You wrote: “ACT does not inform employers that you cheated.”

If a future employer, such as the US Government or a US Government contractor, requires the employee to obtain a security clearance, then the one accused of cheating must self report this accusation.