<p>I believe also that ACT sends out just enough test packets to the school for each test date. Where are these extra tests come from? They carefully take all the tests back and not letting any copies leak out to the public. You said they saved money by using old test, why does ACT grade and enter scores of these tests into their system if the tests were not paid for? I would be very surprised if it can happen the way you laid it out.</p>
<p>That didn’t happen in my High School that was a small international test center. There they just believed that they could reuse the same tests and no one cared, except the students who didn’t believe that was cheating as that is waht thier protactor/counselor told them</p>
<p>I need help 89 you have to be the worst writer in history. I’ve read every single post of yours in this thread and still hardly understand the situation at all.</p>
<p>Just imagine that you are in your High School and you start seeing that all your classmates (who statistically have a horrible SAT average) get perfect scores on the ACT. Everyone tells you that that is normal, but you don’t know what to do. Then when they finally got into good colleges you hear someone saying, “you know what is better about the ACT than the SAT” and you also hear them answer, “That they don’t change the tests, they just reuse over and over again the same test”. Then you start understanding it. Then you email the ACT who don’t believe you and almost insult you. Then you work to find out who raised their score A LOT and send them their names (Doing thier job), but they still don’t want to do anything. Imagine that finally, when you have all the evidence you can’t do nothing because there is no one where to go. Try to write that after you know that all your high school experience was just your high school counselor playing with peopel to choose who could go to a good college and who couldn’t by “getting” a good ACT score.</p>
<p>Me too, arcade. </p>
<p>OP: If you decide to submit this tale in writing to ACT or anyone else, I suggest you ask someone to edit your submission so that it is intelligible. It may be that your previous efforts got no response simply because the reader could not understand what you were saying.</p>
<p>This is waht my conselor/ACT protactor answered when I emailed him asking him if he was being bribed or not for giving the same test over and over again
Thanks for the email and information about your debate with your associate and his/her call to ACT services. As you asked and correctly stated; I can confirm that at no time did I ever receive any money, thank yous, gifts, or anything else in exchange for letting a student take the same ACT test again (or any other sort of advantages).</p>
<p>With ACT services policy in the past, it was standard practice that ACT international test centers would keep the same test books (per ACT policy), and reuse (as long as they were in new condition), the same test booklets throughout the testing year. This would result in some students verbally noting and recognizing that they were taking the “same test again”, which they were per ACT policy. This is one of the reasons that a student could not sit for the ACT a second time at the same test center within a specified amount of time (I think it was 30-days back then). Per ACT policy, at the end of the testing year all test books were returned and/or destroyed…</p>
<p>
What is your actual basis for asserting this? Hearsay from other students that the questions were the same?</p>
<p>When you say “per ACT policy”, where is this policy stated? All I can find on their website is this pdf:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/reg_flyer_intl_color.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/reg_flyer_intl_color.pdf</a></p>
<p>There is nothing resembling what you said. Who told you about these policies?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You seriously emailed your proctor (NOT “protactor”) asking if he was being bribed? Did you really expect him to say “Oh, yes, sorry, you caught me”? I’m having a hard time following your whole saga, but I do know this: You MUST be able to write the story in a semi-intelligible form if you want it to be taken seriously. So far, you’re not, and I suggest you enlist the help of someone who can if you want to pursue this. I’m having trouble discerning whether your story is credible or not, simply based on the fact that I can’t understand it. My guess is that the ACT people feel the same way.</p>
<p>…are you saying that:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Students took the ACT.</p></li>
<li><p>Students then took more ACT practice tests.</p></li>
<li><p>On test day, they were tested on tests identical to their practice tests?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>A simple yes or no answer would go a long way to clearing up whether you have a legitimate issue or not.</p>
<p>I can’t see how ACT would let students take the exact same test they have been practicing on for a year. There must be some kind of safeguards in place to prevent that. </p>
<p>Is it possible that, after a years worth of practice on ACT tests, and with coaching, these kids just raised their grades a lot?</p>
<p>All the tests may be similar. They probably HAVE to be similar. That does not mean that they are IDENTICAL.</p>
<p>It appears the OP cut and pasted the proctors reply:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And it would seem that some/all students knew it was a repeat test if taken at the same test center OR that the same test was delivered to all test stations. So yes… I would send an email to the NYTimes education editor and explain things in a way that is not a hypothetical (imagine you…) but actual fact step by step of what you believe happened. I would add the name of the school, the testing location, the proctor and the guidance counselor along with phone numbers. Be succinct and since explaining the situation seems difficult for you, do a list.</p>
<p>My question would be… how do you know what the other students told you they got is what they actually got? Is your assertion that the counselors were fixing the system to get some kids into certain colleges over other students equally or more qualified? </p>
<p>My other question would be: Is this a student (you) who is complaining because you were disadvantaged? And how is it that you were not among those scoring perfectly if this was so wide spread?</p>
<p>Of course you could also just say, such and such a school is gaming the ACT policy of giving the same tests in international testing centers by allowing students full knowledge that the same test will be given on future dates. They are given the actual test booklets to study from in order to boost their scores (if this is true as I can’t tell from what you’ve written).</p>
<p>Of course it is hard to explain, what I am saying is that my classmates got the same test (no changes, not even one different question) when taking the ACT (the real test, not a practice test or something like that). The NY times and other newspapers havent’ taken my seriously. This is how the ACT started answering me when someone told them that people were cheating</p>
<p>I did not understand why you were asking such specific questions about a
test you do not plan on taking.</p>
<p>If you cannot explain to us in this kind of forum, then you have very little chance of getting ACT or NYT to listen to you due to your incomprehensible and incoherent story. You need to get someone else that is more fluent in English or a little more mature to try to help you. How about your teacher, parents, older relatives, other school administrators, etc…?</p>
<p>Around a year ago I was a student on an international school in South America. The School, even though it has a lot of resources, tends to do poorly on standaraize tests for a private school (The average is just a little above the national average). On my junior year people started getting perfect or almost perfect scores on the ACT from the blue. I inmediatly suspected that they were cheating or something. After a coupple of month I heared some people discussing. They were asking each other what was better, the ACT or the SAT. They didn’t have a doubt that the ACT was better and the argument was that the ACT had reused the same test booklets during the whole year. I couldn’t believe it so I went on asking and I was surpraised that nobody believed that it was really unfair to other people because the ACT only sends the best scores and they don’t say what was your test center. They answered me that the High School counseler had told them that the ACT extra fee for international test center was less than the SAT because they didn’t change the test booklet. Even more, they were told about that when taking the test. Of course that I was extremely angry, so I emailed the ACT, I just posted what they answered me. After one year of emailing them they finally accepted to start an investigation, but as far as I know the people who got into college using this route are still on college. To have the evidence I emailed my high school counseler to ask him if he was accepting money for giving the same test or so. I know that his sallary goes up proportionally to the amount of students he is able to get accepted into good colleges. I know is discusting and hard to believe, but If you have any doubts just ask more specific questions. Yes, everyone in my High School had seen the questions before taking the test. Yes, they saw the questions by taking the same test before on the prvious ACT examination. Yes, they believe and still believe that it is fair as my High School couneler told them so and that is what they want to believe. Yes, I told the ACT and they have refused to take any measurements.</p>
<p>
No, s/he emailed his/her protractor.</p>
<p>Jokes aside, the OP’s story does sound unfair provided that it is actually all true.</p>
<p>Try to write what I just wrote on another blog or something. Just tell me where to email this.</p>
<p>Your story still has a lot of holes. For what you said to have happened, ACT must be in with the cheating scheme. </p>
<ol>
<li>How do they get away with submitting the same test to ACT over and over and continue to get better score?</li>
<li>How come you do not get a chance to participate in this?</li>
<li>I looked up ACT test center in South Africa and there is one and only one test center at Witwatersrand University? How does your school give test when it is not a test center?</li>
</ol>
<p>Are you sure we are talking about the same ACT test that is used for US universities application?</p>
<p>More questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you go to the ACT website, the instruction says that you must register online for the test for international testing. How does your school offer tests without paying and making registration as instructed on the website?</li>
<li>Do you actually see the scores of these so called people who cheat, or do you just hear this from someone that they have good score?</li>
<li>You said everyone at your school has seen the test, but how come you have not seen the test yourself?</li>
</ol>
<p>Please answer all questions above.</p>
<ol>
<li>When you take the ACT you ahve to write what test booklate you are doing, so they just took the test. You are right the the ACT is suppose to do something when people raise their score from the blue, but that didn’t happen.</li>
<li>I got a chance to participate, but is discusting.</li>
<li>South America, not AFrica</li>
<li>They did pay an extra fee for being an international test center, but the argumetn given was that it was less than the SAT fee.</li>
<li>Their scores were made public by the High School counseler who got a copy of their ACT scores.</li>
<li>I didn’t take the test, so I didn’t see it.</li>
</ol>
<p>OK, it would be good to know, what country and what school?</p>