Okay folks here is where we are at as of 5pm today. After waiting almost 3 weeks since last speaking with ETS we actually got through to them today and here is what they had to say: “we have concerns and will be issuing our findings on monday/tuesday next week”. Oh boy! I asked what exactly the concerns were and the response was the same along with “due to concerns scores will be invalid”. Nothing more, zilch, nada, zero information. As I have stated before not one person from ETS has contacted me or my son regarding this review. They are going to invalidate his score without a proper investigation and without interviewing us. Below are the facts:
1140 on May Test (no calculator)
1840 on November Test
Test taken on Nov. 8
Test results not available on Nov. 25
Phone call to College Board on Dec. 4 (notified verbally that score under review due to high increase)
Email notifying that score under review Dec. 4 (should take two weeks as they want to quickly/economically resolve)
Waited over two weeks then placed calls to ETS reviewer multiple times through end of Dec.
Called ETS and spoke with reviewer Jan. 6 and told should have final review completed 2-3 weeks.
See Above for todays conversation.
Responses today seemed to be legal/technical. Its interesting that they state they want to complete review quickly but look at where we are at. How can anyone say this was a quick or expeditious review. Of course their response would be that they wanted to be super thorough. I have a thought and maybe I am off base but if they invalidate the scores due to an increase what they are really saying is we can’t prove you cheated so we use this as our way of saying you did. I have grilled my kid and he knows what a cheating allegation could cost. Add to that he went to an 1840 not a super score for crying out loud. He will take test again tomorrow and is worried that he may not do as well with all this stress on him as well as if he does do well or even better are we back in the same boat.
I have told him he will write an email to the ETS reviewer providing information that hopefully they will use in making their final determination. How can they do this without really looking in to the facts and interviewing the parties involved. I know as a business they have a reputation to protect but come on. This is a 17 yr old kid who has worked hard to get the opportunity in front of him and these people can snatch it away for whatever reason without just cause. If he cheated then so be it and he lives with the consequences but at no time have we heard thats the case. And as stated before if the proctor felt he was cheating then by their own protocol he should have been removed at that time.
I strongly believe my son played by their rules and he is being penalized for it.
Sorry, but the SAT is a test of statistical measurement and a plus 700 point swing is not impossible, but it is considered improbable, hence the need for review. Worst case scenario is that your son will have to take the test again. GL either way.
I understand the statistical measurement and the need for review however, not interviewing the student and coming to the conclusion that he must have done something improper is nonsense. Its egregious and ETS needs to revise their review policies and procedures. If someone is caught cheating per the proctor, written submissions (essay), going back to test sections after time has completed, or blatantly looking at another test then absolutely dispute the scores. This from what we understand thus far is not the case in our situation. They are basically saying that “you improved too much and that is not normal therefore we will not validate you score”. Its crap plain and simple.
My scores were delayed when I was in high school too, and it took until January for me to get my scores (I took the October test). It was my fault for the delay really, I live in Florida so I qualify for bright futures which for the highest award required 1290/1600 CR/M. I had a 1280/1600 so I retook the test, but was already satisfied with my writing score so I skipped the writing section entirety. I was told that was what triggered the review but it was worth it because my CR increased to 670 and my M to 730 for a total of 1400. Hope the scores get released
Thanks for the info. Yeah, we can only hope but the ETS pretty much indicated that they were not going to validate. Very sad that they have this much control and their decision is final. We could go to court or whatever but they know most won’t and I believe they rely on that. No true recourse for anyone without long drawn out process for the student and family.
Still no official word. Thats correct, no email, no phone call, no written correspondence, nothing. I will be really relieved when my sons jan scores come in (if they don’t invalidate those for some mysterious reason) so that I can finally say we are done with College Board and ETS. Side note: my son has spoken to a few other kids who were at the test and asked if their scores were being reviewed: NOPE! Not a testing site issue and if they believed he cheated I cannot imagine it would take them this long to state that. As I have stated before they cannot explain his high jump in score so they will not validate it. It is criminal!
Take the ACT and be done with this. It is a less stressful test for a lot of kids, based on what they have learned in school not stuff they have to learn to study for like the SAT. What you are going through is horrible so get away from it. You won’t need tutoring for the ACT, just a $20 book from Barnes and Noble. He is test ready at this point, just some light review between now and Feb 7.
Too much pressure on him and you don’t trust the SAT anymore understandably. Sorry, it has to be so frustrating, but recruited athletes usually have more leeway on things, hoperully coach has your back. (I would vent on here more than I would to coach, you don’t want him even thinking for a second that your kid may have cheated, so keep that mess more to yourself.) Just say test was invalid for some test center reason and has to take it again, no big deal. I know a girl athlete that had to retake the SAT in the summer before she started in August cause she needed 20 more points to get in the school (she had really poor scores). She took it 3 times trying for those 20 points! Good luck!
finally received official notice that they will not validate score. while it took them 3 months to communicate this with us they are only providing us 2 weeks to explain the higher score. What a joke! They gave two reasons:
1.) Similar answers to someone seated near (what is near, where was this other student seated in relation to my son).
2.) Difference from previous test score to this one.
Thats it, thats all they provided. No evidence, no real explanation, nothing. I have many questions I am going to ask regarding their investigation but I am asking for help.
Please provide any question you would ask.
It is very clear to me that they have made their decision and now want us to prove innocence without providing us with the information or methods they used to make their decision.
Also, I have asked my son and several of his friends regarding the administration of the exam specifically if all students are administered the same exam with the all the sections in the same order. Their answer was a resounding NO. According to them the exam sections went CR/M/CR/M… you only knew you were taking a CR if the previous section you just finished was M typical sequence. They all said that the proctor, prior to opening the booklet would inform them that they could only have their calculator if their next section was math. They said that some students would have M for say section 6 and others CR.
reminder, went from 1140 to 1740 not 1840. paid for private tutor and 200 of the score increase attributed to the essay. 150 increase on CR and 250 on M but total increase of 600. S did not know any of the other students as we have to travel to different city for test. students seated per the proctor direction.
That’s nuts. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to challenge their finding with the information they’ve given you so far though (which is next to none). You can document the test prep that your son went through to explain the large jump in SAT scores but I’m not sure what you can do with the issue of your son’s answers (presumably the ones he got wrong?) being too similar to the other person’s.
Is it possible for them to check to see if your son’s exam was in the same order as the other person’s?
(It may end up not being worth your time though. It doesn’t sound as if your past grappling with the College Board has gotten anywhere.)
Say your son was 1 yard away from any other student (or somesuch, as per regulations). How can he have cheated? With a magic telescope?
Tell them that their investigation should have returned that he systematically bubbled in off by a line on one page, hence explaining his first score.
With the “new” SAT which looks crazy difficult (totally out of reach for average college students - challenging for tippy top students, but undoable for the kids who typically score 450-550… unless the curve is very generous…) and this attitude from the College Board, I think many students will be flocking to the ACT. I don’t know if the ACT is better at communicating and dealing with cases they have a doubt about, but here it’s clear the College Board has a problem.
I have a friend whose daughter’s test scores from November also were delayed. The family was notified that the daughter’s test is being hand-scored because of a misbubbling issue (which was known of immediately after the test was taken and the proctor seemed sure it would not be an issue and advised the daughter accordingly). The daughter is a senior in high school and it’s not clear when, if ever, the colleges to which she applied will receive her scores. I think my friend, her daughter, and the daughter’s guidance counselor figured out that most of, if not all, the schools to which the daughter applied will accept ACT scores, but the experience has been very stressful for them and the lack of responsiveness from the College Board was unprofessional.
Thank you all for the support. This has been a miserable experience to say the least. As I have stated before, only now it would really make no sense, why would any kid cheat to get a 1740. It makes no sense. With their statement that his answers were similar to someone else that is exactly what they are saying, he cheated. How can you prove you are not guilty of cheating. They have already determined that by not validating the scores. Did the other student copy my son and if so I guess he is penalized for it. Was the score of the other student invalidated? The crazy thing is all of their options to rectify the situation forces the student to essentially admit guilt by default. We do know that the 1740 will not get him in the business school he wants at the university. He worked really hard for the january test but admitted that he was super stressed out going gin and was so so on his performance afterwards.
Three months to get a formal response is excessive. They claim that their review process “helps test takers understand our procedures for viewing scores so that questions about score validity can be resolved as quickly, economically, and equitable as possible”. This is right out of their guidelines. What a joke. They take 3 months to make an initial determination and only give you two weeks to respond and provide information to support your test scores and prove them wrong. Yet they provide no information that they used to make this determination.
I truly hope he did well enough on january test so I can rid myself of this headache. I really feel sorry for future test takers. SO here is my worst fear: He scores better on january exam and we are back in this boat again. They have preliminarily invalidated his nov scores (as if he never took it) so technically if they are using the first test score as a baseline then a better score on january may trigger this crap again. Where does it end? Not knowing january score yet, do we sign him up for March exam just in case? Oh wait, they also stated that score on variable section was inconsistent with ONE other section. Sorry forgot to mention that. What the heck: How can they use a section of the test which has no impact on official score as another reason for not validating official score? Variable section is only put in there to see if those questions would be sufficient future test questions. NO IMPACT AT ALL! They are not questioning the 200 increase on essay. Why not? They question the total 600 point increase but do not question anything with the 200 increase on essay.
CR: 360/510
MA: 400/650
WR: 380/580
Those were his scores from both previous test. I believe in my kid and he is really upset about this situation. He wants to clear his name with these folks and as a father I want to do so. I am going to use this a life lesson and hope he can learn from it. He needs to stand up to these people even if his jan scores are good enough. Your thoughts?
I guess my concern is that this is the fourth (?) time he will be dealing with the College Board. I agree that standing up for himself is important, but he’s not the one who did anything wrong here but he is the one who has to go through the wringer of taking the exam multiple times, studying for it, and stressing himself out to please a group that thinks nothing of making him wait three months for a determination on something this important.
Whatever is going on with the College Board isn’t your son’s fault and there’s nothing he personally can do to change that. All he can do is study hard and try his best, which he has already done. He can’t control what a bunch of strangers think about him and he can’t hold himself accountable for something that is completely and obviously beyond his control.
It really is guilty until proven innocent and you have to provide the evidence of your innocence but you are not aware of what their “so called” evidence is they used to make their initial determination. As a father I want him to fight. I want him to take a stand against this. As adults we all know we have had those times where we had to defend ourselves against an allegation. I want him to present an intelligent and articulate defense of himself. They are questioning his integrity and doing so without any regard.
I’m not sure why you don’t just have him take the ACT. I get (and sympathize) with your frustration with the College Board, but at some point you might just want to move past this for now and give your son the opportunity to get a qualifying score on a test administered by a different organization.
I failed to mention that he will take the ACT again. To be honest with you he is burnt out on test prep and the test. He understands that the academic demands in college will be similar. He just wants to be a kid enjoying the last 5 months of high school and not going to tutor and testing and blah blah blah.
Good luck!