<p>My son did not cheat but is being accused by ETS of doing so on his first SAT.
He took the SAT for a second time and bombed it. He scored 500 points lower then the first.
He received a letter from ETS accusing him of cheating on the first test. The letter advised him that he had one shot to write a letter explaining the score drop or his scores would be deleted. The letter was a very confrontational, not asking for an explanation but more accusing him of cheating and giving him one chance of explaining himself. He ETS explaining himself and the score drop. He gave valid reasons. He worked the day before the 2nd test and got off work late that night. He had to be at the test for 7am and also had a very bad headache that day. He again had to be at work for noon the day of the test. He had to study for regents while also prepping for the sat as well. He also had varsity baseball to contend with.
Within 5 days of mailing them the explanation he got letter back advising that they felt they had substantial evidence to support canceling out the first scores.
They gave him 4 options, all are admissions of guilt!
1. Take the test over again to confirm your scores, 2. Tell them to cancel his scores and get a refund, 3. Let the school agency to which he like to apply sent the findings and let them decide on whether to use the scores and 4. Ask an arbitrator by the American arbitration assoc.to rule on the material supplied stating ETS substantial that your scores are invalid.
All options indicate guilt...
My son is an honors student, holds a 94 GPA, plays varsity baseball, participates in school programs and holds down two or more jobs at a given time. This is truly unfair!<br>
We have since spoke to ETS and they explained that there was a student in the room that had similar answers to my sons on the first test. They were seated a row apart and not near each other. We then spoke to my sons guidance counselor, he explained that the way the test was given there would have been no way for my son to have cheated. My son insists he is innocent. His school guidance counselor, school superintendent, teachers, family and friends are all standing behind him, but it appears there is nothing we can do about it.
We have spoke to an educational attorney referred by the school and his fee would be $400 an hour, which is way out of our budget.
Last I checked this was America, and you are innocent until proven guilty, and if you could not afford an attorney you would have one appointed for you. THIS IS WRONG</p>
<p>Not to be a jerk but I don’t think it’s possible for your score to drop 500 points legitimately if you don’t fall asleep during the test or write nothing</p>
<p>Also you don’t just magically lose 500 points and not expect it… he could have cancelled his score afterwards if he felt that he had done so poorly </p>
<p>And if he somehow did drop 500 points because he was tired/stressed/had a headache, he should be happy to take it again</p>
<p>Why not just take the test again? It seems like it is probably necesaary anyway if the second test is not up to par. I understand your frustration, but it is nothing to spend 400 dollars an hour on in a confrontation</p>
<p>Better to have him take the test again, especially if they let him take it again for free.</p>
<p>I have dealt with several cheaters throughout my teaching career, and one rule is that if someone copies off of you, both of you are culpable for cheating. It doesn’t matter if he was tired and didn’t cover his paper, or the proctor wasn’t paying attention.</p>
<p>That’s why we have to do all sorts of stupid stuff to minimize cheating.</p>
<p>(and please - tell me anywhere in the mass media where someone is innocent until proven guilty)</p>
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<p>How do they monitor which row and seat you are in. I mean really, is this recorded by the proctor? I never heard of that. </p>
<p>I understand your rage. However, when he signed up for it a second time it was because he intended to get a higher score anyway. Why wouldn’t he still want to do this. So just take it again and all should be well. </p>
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<p>Civil matters are adjudicated by “preponderance of the evidence” not “beyond a reasonable doubt” . It’s a much lower burden. It means that the adjudicator would have to determine if it it is more likely that he cheated on the first test or not. ETS would have lots of data showing how rare a 500 point drop is, so he’d probably lose anyway, not because he cheated but because, based on the statistical evidence, he is more likely to have cheated. The whole thing is unfortunate. </p>
<p>Good luck to your S</p>
<p>My son was warned during an AP exam to watch his test, as another student was looking at his paper. </p>
<p>The proctors are supposed to record any sign of students looking at other students’ papers. Again, it goes both ways - if your son was either unknowingly or knowingly not protecting his paper, and someone did cheat from him, your son is guilty according to the rules.</p>
<p>I do not see what the problem is with a retake. Then again, I suppose I am kind of on the other side of it, having a student’s mommy argue to my chair that her son deserved a C not a D, and then I had to prove that no, he really deserved an F but I was nice and gave him a D. The lady was going to call the governor about it.</p>
<p>How about sucking it up and he retakes it? Or are you worried that his first score isn’t something he could achieve again? Unfortunately, learning to deal with adversity sometimes includes going against what is right and taking the path of least resistance.</p>
<p>I am curious though - why is retaking the test an admission of guilt? If he was innocent and someone else looked at his paper, would he not want to retake the test on his own?</p>
<p>How about taking the ACT instead?</p>
<p>If a student has his/her score over 300 jump, the college board will not release his/her score on the scheduled score release day and does an investigation (3-6 weeks). This is annoying but they are doing their best to prevent possible fraud/cheating.</p>
<p>I believe you and your son. This is based on your son’s attempt to take the SAT for the second time and tried to improve his score. </p>
<p>I think the option 1 (Take the test over again to confirm your scores) is not a bad option. If your son can do it the first time, I am sure he can do it again. I believe that the confirmation score does not to be the exact score or anything over the first attempt, but definitely not 300 to 500 points below. I understand this is stressful but it is worth to do it.</p>
<p>I would be pretty annoyed and frustrated if this happened to my kid, and I do think it’s unfair. But then, life is not always fair.<br>
Have him retake the test, and make sure he is prepared this time- not sleepy or ill. He might even want to do a practice timed test on his own just to make sure he feels confident going in. The fact is, he hoped to improve his score, so this is his opportunity. Part of growing up is learning to make lemonade out of the lemons that life sometimes hands you.
I hope he aces it this time.</p>
<p>If I know my S is not lying I would sue ETS.</p>
<p>If you look objectively at the 4 options you’ve been given, they do not all indicate guilt. #2 cancelling his score does assume guilt. But #3 allows the school to make the decision, #4 allows an arbitrator to support your son’s claims (understandably this is not a desirable option financially and in terms of time and effort involved) and #1 allows your son to retake the test at no cost ( he was trying to improve his score anyway right?). With more favorable conditions he should be able to reproduce or exceed the initial score, which is being questioned. Obviously this is the best choice and he would likely have retaken the test anyway given the drastic score drop between his first and second attempts.</p>
<p>It must be frustrating for you since you know your son is innocent of the cheating, but the ETS has to follow certain protocols, especially after the huge cheating scandal a couple years ago. In the long run, all our kids are better served by policies that uncover cheating even if occasionally they misfire.<br>
“Hard cases make bad law.”</p>
<p>not trying to be a jerk but instead of complaining on CC, I’m pretty sure you’ll make more progress by just retaking the test again…</p>
<p>" if your son was either unknowingly or knowingly not protecting his paper, and someone did cheat from him, your son is guilty according to the rules" Really? Are kids expected to position their bodies so that no one, from any side can see their paper? If not, they are guilty? Of what? Isn’t it up to the test proctors to prevent cheating? The kids taking the test are presumably busy answering the questions. Also, they could come under suspicion themselves if they are constantly looking around the room to see if other kids are eyeing their paper.</p>
<p>I can see where College Board is coming from. 500 points between tests is an incredible deviation. If a student scores 600 on all three sections on their tests, that places them at about the 75th percentile. A 500 point decrease, going to about 440 on all sections, would place them at the 25th percentile. That kind of change in scores just does not happen overnight.</p>
<p>Whatever happened, retaking the test would be the easiest option for all involved, and no doubt that it beats hiring a lawyer. Your son should have no problem topping his last score.</p>