LONDON (Reuters) – Students in Asia have now been notified that their scores regarding the writing section of last month’s ACT college-entrance exam are being canceled, in the latest example of how standardized test makers are struggling to contain a worldwide epidemic of cheating.
The incident comes just months after ACT Inc, the Iowa-based nonprofit that operates the test, was obligated to cancel its exam for several takers in South Korea and Hong Kong. That incident, in June, marked the very first time the high-stakes exam was canceled for an entire country.
ACT spokesman Ed Colby declined to express how many students were impacted by the October score cancellations, which he said test that is involved in Asia and Oceania. He described the incident as the result of “a compromise in the testing process” and said the affected students “amounted to simply a small percentage of examinees in your community.”
Affected students for the October score cancellation received a message from ACT that stated: “Unfortunately, events occurred which compromised the testing process for the portion that is writing of test event. As a total result, you will not receive a score for the writing test response/essay. Your multiple choice ACT tests—English, mathematics, reading, and science tests—WILL be scored.”
The message added that ACT will issue each student a $16 refund.
The ACT writing section is nominally voluntary, but colleges that are many students to take it to gauge an applicant’s writing and reasoning abilities.
The security incident that is latest is “a frustrating and complicated situation for our students,” said Kristin J. Dreazen, president of this international affiliate of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
The afternoon prior to the ACT was administered on Oct. 22, Reuters obtained a duplicate of an ACT writing test about the subject “Fame” that an Asian source said had leaked and was to be given the following day. Test administrators in Asia were instructed shortly before the test to substitute a essay that is different compared to the one that originally had shipped. Colby declined to comment on the test Reuters obtained.
Reuters reported in July that ACT’s test security unit repeatedly had recommended tightening security overseas prior to the June breach, essay writing service but that ACT executives had rejected the recommendations. The business later let go the relative head of the unit. ACT’s chief executive, Marten Roorda, has declined to be interviewed.
ACT recently began shipping a number of its test booklets and answer sheets in lock boxes to protect against leaks. Nevertheless the utilization of lock boxes is still not universal, in accordance with test administrators.
In July, Reuters also detailed widespread cheating into the ACT-owned Global Assessment Certificate program. This program, that provides college preparatory courses, has about 5,000 students and operates in about 200 centers, mostly in Asia. reut.rs/2akY3uf
Seven students who attended three different GAC centers in China described how school officials and proctors ignored and were sometimes complicit in cheating from the ACT. Eight teachers or administrators who have worked at seven different Chinese GAC centers also described cheating in program courses.
ACT’s chief rival, the New York-based College Board, which administers the SAT, happens to be struggling featuring its own security problems. The faculty Board recently notified an undisclosed wide range of test-takers in Egypt that their scores were being canceled for the October test.
College Board spokesman Zach Goldberg said the cancellations were “based on evidence that a test preparation organization illegally obtained and shared the test content before the administration.” He declined to elaborate.
Reuters also reported in August that a major breach exposed a huge selection of unpublished questions for upcoming SAT exams. A College Board spokeswoman said the corporation was investigating what she termed “a serious criminal matter.”