Tighter security for SAT, ACT in wake of cheating

The new security measures come after a major SAT cheating scandal.

The millions of students who take the SAT or ACT each year will have to submit photos of themselves when they sign up for the college entrance exams, under a host of new security measures announced March 27 in the aftermath of a major cheating scandal on Long Island.

The two companies that administer the tests, the College Board and ACT Inc., agreed to the precautions under public pressure brought to bear by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who is overseeing the investigation.

The measures take effect in the fall.…Read More

SAT cheating scandal: Are stakes getting too high for college admission?

The case of a Great Neck, N.Y., man accused of being paid to take the SAT for high school students is once again prompting questions nationwide about how much cheating goes on in the world of high-stakes testing, reports the Christian Science Monitor. It’s also renewing concerns that the pressure placed on students to score well on a single test, which plays a big role in determining the academic future for so many high-schoolers, may be encouraging them to cheat…

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New ways students cheat on tests

Are we in a cheating epidemic? Asks the Washington Post. There isn’t definitive data to reach that conclusion, though surveys suggest a big percentage of students cheat—and have for a long time. The Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University has reported that more than 75 percent of college students cheat in some way on school work or exams at least once during their undergraduate careers. The nationwide rate of college students admitting to cheating on tests and exams is 22 percent. Of course, it’s not likely they waited until college to start to cheat…

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Threat to shoot up Des Moines college campus draws quick response

Administrators at Des Moines Area Community College took immediate action last week when a startling message from a social networking site was discovered, the Des Moines Register reports. It said: “Who wants to shoot up the DMACC Ankeny campus the same time I shoot up the Urban campus?” Police were waiting for Paul Richard George, 18, on Friday, the moment he showed up for his second day of college at 1100 Seventh St. in Des Moines…

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