Reports of leaked SAT leave students wondering about integrity of test

David Jesse , Kate Murphy | Detroit Free Press

Madison Caswell worked every day for nearly three months prepping to take the SAT, the high-stakes college entrance exam.

Finally, on Saturday, Caswell joined thousands of other high school students from around the world in taking the test. What the 17-year-old from Lake Orion, Michigan, didn't know: The test she took apparently had been floating around the internet for months.

SAT watchers say the College Board, the organization that runs the exam, had recycled a test given in October overseas. That exam's answers had been leaked on the internet.

❗❗IMPORTANT❗❗We are getting reports that the August 2018 SAT was the same as the LEAKED international October 2017 SAT. The October SAT was known to be leaked for a long time. #RescoreJuneSAT #refundaugustsat pic.twitter.com/UIhwzaNEYO — One Step Higher (@OSHMovement) August 25, 2018

"This will give an unfair advantage to the people who cheated, which can have large repercussions when it comes to college admissions," Caswell said. "Because schools are so competitive today, that score boost someone gets from cheating can change decisions on who's accepted and who isn't.

"The College Board shouldn't have reused parts of their test."

The answers to the October SAT apparently had been circulating in the depths of the internet for months. Students who searched for SAT tests were able to see them.

"It's not unusual for them to reuse some questions," said Jon Boeckenstedt, enrollment and marketing chief at DePaul University in Chicago. DePaul is a testing-optional institution, which means students don't have to provide test scores to get admitted, and its leaders have spoken out against the College Board.

The difference in this test: Students who took it say it was exactly the same as the version available online – one given in Asia and posted on a Chinese website.

Could some students have expected to see that test on Saturday? It's possible, said Robert Schaeffer, public education director of National Center for Fair & Open Testing. The group, also known as FairTest, is a leader in the testing optional movement.

Test-prep companies around the world often study the recirculation of tests to narrow down which questions might be reused on which date, Schaeffer said.

But they also go further. In 2016, an investigation by the news agency Reuters found massive loopholes in the College Board's security. Among them: networks of test takers that share material across time zones, preparing students on the West Coast before they take the test.

Reuters also found regular leaks of the full test in Asia, just like what reportedly happened with Saturday's test. Students from Asia, particularly South Korea and China, then fly to the U.S. to spend a few days and take the test.

The College Board views these tactics as against the rules but said it wouldn't throw out Saturday's test.

In a statement posted to its social media sites, the company said it always looks carefully at scores for evidence of cheating. It also said it doesn't comment on test question usage.

"If we determine students have gained an unfair advantage, we will take appropriate actions," the company said in a statement. The Board said it could cancel test scores of people who cheated and might prohibit them from taking another College Board exam.

"The vast majority of students follow our test security policies, and our efforts are focused on identifying those who did not," the College Board said.

The Board plans to release multiple-choice SAT scores as normal on Sept. 7.

Skylar Bartush of Watertown, Connecticut, saw reports of the leaked test on Twitter right after she walked out of the testing room Saturday.

"I honestly felt cheated by the College Board," said Bartush, 17. "The SAT is one of the most crucial aspects to college applications, and I'm disgusted by the lousy and vague response the College Board gave about our concerns. These are students' futures in their hands, and it's unprofessional for them to be so careless about the situation. ...

"This was by far the hardest SAT I've ever taken, which is why it infuriates me even more that some students cheated and the College Board doesn't seem to care."

The Board said it is working to make its test more secure.

"We recognize that organizations and individuals will consistently try to challenge the system and find new ways to cheat, which is why we continue to enhance our test security measures. We are compelled to take bolder steps to ensure the SAT remains a valid, reliable tool for college admissions," the College Board said in a statement.

The College Board is "burying its head in the sand to the fact that once tests are administered in the 21st century, their content is very quickly available online and elsewhere,” said Schaeffer, of FairTest.

Test takers memorize some of the questions and regurgitate them on sites like Redditt.com, where entire tests are rebuilt. Or they use technology such as micro-cameras to take photos of the test and share it, Schaeffer said.

“The College Board refuses to take the one simple step, which is to stop recycling tests. If it’s a fresh exam, there’s still not (a) 100 percent guarantee, but at least there won’t be old tests that are going to be re-used in their entirety, which people have an opportunity to sell," Schaeffer said.

The Board has said creating new questions for each exam would cost too much money and make the test more expensive.

After USA TODAY posted this story on its website, the College Board emailed an updated statement, saying it has increased test development to reduce the number of test questions it reuses. It also has "strengthened prevention and detection techniques, and bolstered efforts to identify and pursue those sharing copyright-protected test content,” the Board said.

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Trusting Saturday's scores to be accurate could be a problem, said Boeckenstedt, of DePaul University. How does a college know if a high score is legitimate or if a student had seen the test before taking it Saturday?

"It continues to undermine the confidence colleges have in the College Board," he said.

College admissions officers can look at previous scores if a student has taken multiple SATs to see if there's a big jump.

The difficulty comes if a student has taken the test and has a high score, even if their grade point average is average or low. There could be legitimate reasons for that, experts said. Some students just test well. Others students are bored in high school but do well both on the SAT and in college.

Lisa Willis, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, said she is concerned about how college admissions and scholarship officers will look at the score her daughter gets on the test, which she took Saturday.

"She does OK in high school. Not great, but good. She really studied and worked. She thinks she did well on it," said Willis, 48. "But if she gets a good score, are all those college folks going to think she cheated? It's crazy.

"The College Board is really messing with people's lives here."

Follow David Jesse and Kate Murphy on Twitter: @reporterdavidj and @KateMurphyENQ