College Board repeats March SAT as one of forms at June SAT sitting

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

Kids on the June SAT thread and a parent on the Class of 2017 thread have reported that some kids who took the June 2016 SAT got the exact same test that they had already taken in March 2016.

Has the College Board repeated SAT tests in the US in the past? I know they do it for international tests (which is a problem).

Seems like a problem if they do it here in the US for tests 3 months apart. March and June tests are a sensible combination, since the March test takers would have there scores back. Even if they didn’t release the questions, kids will have looked things up that stumped them and talked to friends to figure out what the answers to the tough questions should have been.

2

This has also been reported on Reddit.

The March test was leaked and widely circulated. Many, many students in the U.S.–especially, but not only, those who prepped at centers catering to the Chinese, Taiwanese, or Korean communities there–would probably have prepared for the June test using the leaked March document.

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I wonder if they were conducting an experiment.

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If it was just 1 experimental section that would be one thing but it was apparently the entire test. This happened to our neighbor and I did not believe him until I saw others reporting it here. The CB needs to cancel the 2nd test for people who got a re-peat as it is totally unfair. They cancel scores for other silly stuff that doesn’t impact on scores nearly as much as this will.

5

Anyone have time on his/her hands?

You can compare the conversations posted after the March and June SATs on CC and Reddit to see if they were in fact the same test.

I’m too lazy to do it.

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https://deutsch29.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2016/06/09/former-college-board-exec-new-sat-hastily-thrown-together-students-march-sat-recycled-in-june/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/4mibmx/official_june_2016_discussion_thread/

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@JStone10 I read it as the CollegeBoard was performing psychological experiments on our children :))
They certainly are. :-&

8

Gross negligence and incredible incompetence on the part of the College Board. They will have the records as to which students took the same version of the exam twice in a row. I have to imagine that they’re going to be forced to cancel the second scores for these students. Although it’s absolutely no fault of the students, it’s not reasonable or fair to compare their results on a re-take of the same exam with someone who is seeing the exam for the first time.

But that also speaks to the other huge problem. If the repeated version of the test is the same version that was widely leaked in China and elsewhere, that version is tainted for other test-takers as well … only it’s impossible to know which test-takers had an unfair advantage (i.e., early access to the exam questions) and which ones did not.

As far as I can tell, this appears to be a double or triple failing. (1) The March version was leaked ahead of the March exam. (2) Some students taking the exam in June received the exact same test that they already took in March. (3) If the re-used March test version is the same version that was leaked, the CB exasperated the original failing.

For shame, College Board! You had several other options, including (a) you could have dedicated necessary resources to developing a sufficient number of versions of the new test on time, or (b) you could have used fewer versions of the test than usual and perhaps compensated by hiring additional proctors to ensure no cheating, or © you could have admitted that you were unprepared to shift to the new SAT and therefore postponed the transition from the old SAT until you were ready, or, if none of those possibilities were feasible, (d) you could have admitted that you were unprepared and recommended that students postpone their test-taking and if that wasn’t possible, to recommend they take the ACT instead.

Nice job (not!) modeling competence, discipline, integrity and ethical decision-making.

So, so glad I encouraged my HS Class of '17 daughter to take the old SAT! Kudos to the other parents and guidance counselors who encouraged their students to do the same or to take the ACT in lieu of the SAT. So, so sorry to the members of the class of '17 who are trying to deal with the new SAT. Good luck!

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I almost think it’s interesting that this is news. That we actually haven’t come to expect this from CB.

10

ACT in South Korea and Hong Kong is cancelled this weekend, as the test administered in that region was compromised.

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@SincererLove After seeing your post, I looked for an article to read about what happened. I feel bad for the kids who practiced and prepared. The ACT should reschedule the test and not make the kids wait 3 months but I guess they need time to figure out how to avoid another breach.