“Here are the actual issues. The student took the SAT test as a junior (school day SAT, with no prep), and scored too low to get into her desired college, and to qualify for scholarships. She made a decision to do SAT prep, using the free resources of Khan academy (multiple hours per week), a tutor once per week, a study partner, and additionally purchased prep books. After seven months of intensive studying, she retook the test in October of her senior year, in more than enough time to apply by the application deadline. When she didn’t get her scores when expected, she began contacting CollegeBoard who, on multiple occasions, told her that her score would be released “soon”. For two months, when she could have retaken the SAT before the application deadline, they didn’t even suggest that she retake the test. They didn’t suggest that they found alleged ‘anomolies’. College Board left her in the dark, and believing that her score would be released, in time. In December, a couple of weeks before the application deadline, ETS sent a letter saying that her scores would not be released until a “review” had taken place. This was the first time that she knew she was accused of cheating. She contacted them again, and they declined to let her submit her evidence of having studied. They also noted that the review would take about six weeks, causing her to miss the deadline to apply for both admissions and scholarships to Florida State. In turn, she asked to see the evidence, or even for them to provide the reasoning for flagging her test. ETS declined to tell her.”
Your facts are a bit off. ETS informed Ms. Campbell that her score had been flagged on 10/19, two weeks after she took the test. Read the letter.
If my two children, S17 and D19, were to do it all over again, I’d have them take a proctored baseline, study via a reputable agency, and then take the test(s) for real. And for those who are doing it the traditional way and studying on their own, I would do my baseline under similar test conditions, where the parent is the proctor, and the student wakes up at 7am, eats breakfast, and follows the same time and test structure for the baseline as the “real” test.
Seriously, neither of my children used any component of scores taken from their first “baseline” SAT. If it’s a baseline you want, to determine where you need to focus, etc, then do a baseline on your own.
This is one reason why I’ve found CC so beneficial - there are thousands of parents and students who have been there, done that, and there’s a wealth of knowledge here. These are just my two cents.
Do you mean someone else cheated off of her? The ETS didn’t say that. They said that an increase of ~300 points might indicate “prior knowledge” of the test. They’re not showing any proof of that nor do they seem to be allowing her to present proof that she didn’t cheat.
I hope the family does sue. I’m sick of hearing about students who lay out good money and lots of time to play the game set by these testing agencies only to have their scores tossed without any sort of due process. Meanwhile, there seems to be rampant cheating overseas. There needs to be some outside monitoring and auditing of these companies.
@Materof2 - your recommendations are fantastic. Having attended seminars where the college advisor says just retake the ACT a gazillion times, we know that there is a ton of misinformation out there and the ones who are hurt are, unfortunately, the students (not the advisors, not the parents, etc.). We’ve known several kids who, through multiple retakes, have gotten their scores up from something pretty low to well over 30, but the testimony on CC over the past year has been enough to recommend putting that strategy on hold. Truth is, you can be a victim of some unscrupulous cheater and STILL get your scores cancelled! (especially if taking in a room with other kids you happen to know). When you take it For Real, it’s a real test - so the fewer the number of retakes, the better. Unfortunately, this advice doesn’t help Ms. Campbell, who took the SAT exactly twice, a reasonable number by any standard.
“Do you mean someone else cheated off of her? The ETS didn’t say that. They said that an increase of ~300 points might indicate “prior knowledge” of the test. They’re not showing any proof of that nor do they seem to be allowing her to present proof that she didn’t cheat.”
@austinmshauri - those aren’t the facts as laid out in the demand letter. According to her lawyer, they said there was substantial agreement between her answers on one or more sections of the test, and other test takers. The College Board spokesperson what clear about this as well: “the letter never references score gains as a reason for her scores being under review,” Goldberg added by email, noting he’d only discuss details the student already has made public." (CNN article on 1/3/19)
And we don’t know what they’ve asked her to produce because they aren’t releasing that information to the public. ETS doesn’t issue a press release every time it flags a student’s test for possible cheating.
Finally - yes, it’s possible that she’s a victim of another person’s cheating. Kamilah Campbell and her attorneys have expressed the opinion that she’s the one accused of cheating, but ETS hasn’t said that either. In fact, they’ve said nothing. All the information coming out to the public is from one side of the issue with an obvious interest in a particular outcome. We have to remember that in an investigation, ALL facts are relevant, not just some. We don’t have all the facts here.
The article does state that her score on the second SAT where substantially in “agreement” with others taking the test that day. It did not say, but I presumed that they meant taking it that day at the same place she was taking it. If it turns out that the “others” whose scores she was in “agreement” with was seated beside her it might not bode well.
The College Board has nothing less than their reputation on the line. They will need to research this situation to it’s ultimate conclusion. It certainly would be punishing to this young woman if her hardwork resulted in a punishment instead of a reward, but the The College Board needs to protect it’s reputation.
We’ve seen kids here on CC with scores held in a similar fashion and the"other side of the story" - from ETS - never seems to come out, ever. Scores cancelled,that’s it, no recourse.
I’m rooting for Campbell if only to force ETS to deal with test takers ethically. When there is an accusation it should be backed up with evidence that the affected students get to see.
@OHMomof2 - the letter clearly indicates that Ms.Campbell can get that information! In fact, her lawyer complained that she “has” to do it in order to assess the strength of the evidence against her and that it takes extra time and so forth. That’s why they were demanding the immediate release of the score to USF. There’s no indication that ETS is being “secretive”. Very different from ACT, at least based on the information her legal team has provided to the press.
An issue is whether or not it is true that the test had been previously administered in another country (incidentally, I’d heard this to be common practice but with it being administered in the US first such that students in other countries get a big leg up).
If so, then it is quite possible that a lot of students found it on the internet and took it as a practice test. And if so, cheating algorithms will likely flag an unusually high number of students as having cheated. They will likely have many of the same correct and incorrect answers.
That is because students taking it as a practice test would fall into the same trick traps that are so common for the SATs. There’d be no accurate answer key to rely on. So while students may even look up how various problems need to be solved (for example) , they all may fall for the same tricks- that could be, for example, a problem with how they are interpreting the question-interpreting it in a way that is not technically correct and which introduces error despite the math being correct-and of course the SATs who intend the tricks to screw up students who are not sufficiently diligent, will have provided the multiple choice answer to the question that was not asked as one of the options.
So those that fall for those tricks but who have worked out problems from sample internet tests will likely have the same patterns of mistakes. What a fiasco. Their profit margin is…let’s say “healthy”. They can well afford to have new tests for each administration.
But it’s already too late. Deadlines for FSU and Bright Futures have passed.
The letter says ETS has cited trade secrets as the reason for not telling her exactly what the basis of the denial of her score is, other than at some other points saying part of it is her higher score and that others in the room had similar right/wrong answers.
^ Yes, and the letter by its own stipulation is not going to be admissible in court LOL. The “trade secrets” statement was an opinion based presumably on best understanding of the situation but certainly, at best, 2nd-hand information. It’s not even part of the FACTS section.
Much of their case is based on statements apparently made over the phone to Ms. Campbell between Oct. and Dec. That would include the part about the score being high due to prior knowledge of the test, etc. Hopefully that conversation was recorded. CB records everything so it’s likely in the case that it was. The Dec. 19th letter apparently mentioned substantial agreement between her answers and other test takers, so assuming the letter is available for the record, that statement won’t be in dispute. The rest will need to wait for further investigation or even deposition.
The timing is unfortunate given Ms. Campbell’s year in school, but ETS can’t be held responsible for this student’s personal decisions on when to take or retake a test, nor should they rush an investigation just because a student has a deadline. That’s not fair to others who might have been victims in this or even those in the same room who were cleared. This is really an issue betw. Ms. Campbell and FSU and if she’s keeping them informed then it all might work out all right.
Unlike ACT, ETS isn’t (yet) showing quite the same pattern of abuse here. Sure, she’s upset and angry and it’s quite possible that she has every right to be. But for all we know ETS is resolving this one way or the other w/o fanfare. The two weeks passed a couple days ago so . . .
My understanding is that the College Board allows a student to take another exam, and if you score anywhere near the previous high score, they will accept your previous high score. So, even if she has been flagged, what was the big deal in taking the test again?
Uh…that’s the ACT; this thread is about the SAT and College Board.
But I also don’t find that paragraph particularly convincing. As I said, I personally know students–who have spent their entire prep season in my presence–who were flagged and canceled unfairly. If the method behind those cancellations was “sophisticated,” then I shudder to think what an unsophisticated method would look like.
“All eligibility requirements must be met by high school graduation, but scores of ACT/SAT/P.E.R.T. tests taken through June 30 are accepted for evaluation purposes.”
@marvin100 - ETS does basically the same thing. You are welcome to learn about the process yourself, given your repeated incidence of clients with flagged scores, so here’s something to get you started. BTW, this booklet would either have been sent to Kamilah Campbell - or ETS would have directed her to it on the internet:
Of note: ETS conducts a two-state review process and the decision has to be unanimous for a score to be invalidated. While it may indeed all be a bunch of hooey, my guess is that ETS is able to deliver the experts who will be happy to bend the ear of any deposing attorney to explain this in detail.
As long as the best we can do is “guess” or take the CB’s word for it, then I’m definitely not going to be convinced.
The CB swore up and down that kids could never take the same test twice, and didn’t really even fully admit it when it was shoved in their faces (I’ve known several kids who took the test in the US and then less than a year later took the exact same test overseas!). And of course the CB is the same organization that swore up and down for decades that the test can’t be prepped for, then begrudgingly admitted test prep might result in gains of 10-30 points and then…partnered with Khan Academy for test-prep. Disingenuous and self-serving at the very least.
There’s also the matter of recycling tests even with the knowledge that the test papers were in circulation, something the CB is still doing. And why does the CB keep recycling, given that it’s conclusively established that tests can’t be secured once they’ve been given? Well, it saves money–the CB says the test would be too expensive for test-takers if every test sitting featured a unique exam. Sounds legit, right? Except the CB’s annual revenue is >$750,000,000, 19 of its executives make more than $300,000 per year, and (in 2009) CEO made $1.3 million/year (safe to say David Coleman makes even more).
One more classic example of the CB’s penchant for, if not dishonesty, then at the very least equivocation:
The ACT has an even worse track record–they were partnered with test prep companies in Asia that were also test centers–so students were paying to prep for the test from the same people, in the same place that they would take the test–people who would receive the test weeks before administering it. And until a year or two ago, the ACT actually instructed test center personnel to open and check the tests upon receipt (again, ~2 weeks before the test date).
So yeah, I mean, I’m pretty cynical, but not by nature; the test companies have driven me to it.
I’ll also add, now that I’ve read the ETS document you linked, that it contains nothing I’d describe as “sophisticated analysis.” It’s almost entirely vague, subjective, and/or circumstantial.
^ @marvin100 at #38: the internal sources of information they mention is the statistical modeling. Both agencies will have proprietary methods but that’s getting into the weeds.