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2014年10月30日，美国华盛顿邮报发表题为“An account of exactly how students cheated on SAT
in Asia”的文章，报道中国和韩国籍考生的SAT成绩推迟公布情况，对亚洲学生SAT考场作弊过程做了准确描述。
华盛顿邮报原文——
[The Washington Post] An account of exactly how students cheated on SAT in
Asia
October 30th,2014
By Valerie Strauss
Counselors at international schools in Asia are reporting allegations of
cheating on the Oct. 11 administration of the SAT in more countries than the two
that were the original focus of an investigation - and one counselor said he was
struck by the “ease at which one can cheat.”
On Wednesday, the Educational Testing Service said it had withheld the
scores from the test for students in Korea and China because of allegations of
cheating. In its statement, it strongly denounced organizations that work to get
copies of the test in advance and then pass them on to students for a profit - a
problem that has existed with the administration of the SAT in Asia for years.
Just last year, there were two episodes of suspected cheating, one in October
involving allegations in Korea that questions from earlier tests were obtained
by “cram schools” and given to students before they took the exam. And in May
2013, the College Board canceled the May 2013 administration of the SAT and SAT
Subject Tests throughout South Korea because of a leak of test questions - the
first time the test had been canceled in an entire country.
How can this happen? According to Bob Schaeffer, public education director
of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to ending the misuse of high-stakes standardized tests, SAT tests
given at international sites are “almost always” repeats of exams administered
previously in the United States but not publicly released.
It is not clear how many countries and how many students are involved in
the latest SAT security breaches - or what it means for the validity of any of
the scores that resulted in Asia from the Oct. 11 SAT. Counselors at
international schools have been communicating with each other in recent weeks
about various allegations of cheating on the SAT, not only in Korea and China
but also in Japan, Thailand and perhaps other countries as well. Ffiona Rees,
president of the Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC),
wrote in an e-mail:
From what I understand from our Facebook group, there were several cases
where our members (not in China or Korea) found significant instances of student
fraud - including a student with entire pages of the SAT scanned on the phone.
The student had the entire test with answers and essay already completed. In
each case, the test center tried to contact the College Board but according to
one post “test centers do not have phone support in this time zone (Asia) during
testing hours to help advise or disseminate information.”
I've since heard that some of the students at these test centers have had
their results (I assume the students who helped catch the cheaters), and that
students with addresses in Chinese or Korean addresses are being held.
Asked about allegations in countries beyond Korea and China, ETS corporate
spokesman Tom Ewing said in an e-mail: “There are always allegations and we
conduct regular reviews after every administration to ensure all scores are
valid. As always, should we discover any misconduct, we reserve the right to
take any actions, including cancelling scores before or after they are
released.”
Here's an account about a cheating incident from Joachim Ekstrom, high
school counselor at NIST International School in Bangkok, Thailand. He wrote in
an e-mail that he sent this to the ETS and College Board. He wrote:
I have always felt that it is our responsibility as a World IB School to
serve the wider community in Bangkok and offer seats to students that wouldn't
be able to take the SAT tests in Thailand otherwise. The College Board simply
doesn't have enough centers here. We have the facility and staff needed to do
this. On Saturday we tested 130 students. I am not happy to serve test
preparation centers in China though. This is certainly organized crime. The 10
Chinese students that tested at our center this Saturday all sat in the same
row. They had consecutive registration numbers. This indicates that they were
registered by one person, probably an officer at a Chinese test preparation
center. Included in the test preparation center's package is probably also visa
application, plane ticket, and the option of getting the test answers sent to
your mobile phone in the morning before the test. I am sure these guys make a
lot of money. They are probably also represented in several countries across the
time zones.
The test-taker that was caught had her iPhone hidden under her sport
jacket. When we collected students' phones before the testing began, she said
that she had given her phone to her mother in the morning. We don't strip-search
test-takers, so it is impossible to know if they have a phone hidden in their
clothes. Her mistake was that she checked the notes on her phone during testing,
and one of the proctors noticed it. As I searched her phone I saw that it was
full of messages including the day's “correct” test answers for each section.
These messages were sent from her friends and a person called BlueOcean, who
according to the test-taker, is her teacher at the test preparation center in
China. She further said that the answers were taken from a test given earlier
that day in Australia.
I tried to call the TAS International phone number given in the SAT
Supervisor Manual, but got to talk to an answering machine only. This is
certainly a flaw that needs to be corrected. There is nobody who can answer your
call outside office hours. I realized that I uncovered an organized crime, and I
needed some guidance. Having a look the content of the test-taker's phone, and
following up on the contact information of the people who distribute the test
answers would obviously be extremely valuable for the College Board. I didn't
feel that I have legal rights to keep her phone, and I certainly don't want to
be the person that makes the decision. Considering the scope of this, I am sure
it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to have someone on stand-by who can answer
the phone and give guidance in case of an emergency when the tests are
administered around the world.
I also recommend that the ETS includes a standardized form in the SAT
package sent to test-centers where it is stated that the test-taker's
unauthorized device is confiscated due to a fraudulent situation and that it
will be returned by courier or post after the content has been investigated. The
form can then be signed by the supervisor and the test-taker. I would feel more
comfortable confiscating a test-takers device this way.
I feel sorry for the test-takers that come prepared to take the tests in an
honest way, and who deserve a standardized, quiet and relaxed setting. I also
want to say that we haven't seen this kind of cheating among test-takers in
Thailand. They try to work over time sometimes, and go back to previous sections
to make changes based on recommendations from their friends during the break,
but that's about it.
Concern about cheating on the Oct. 11 administration of the SAT in Asia was
raised days before the test was given, according to Schaeffer. On Oct. 8, 2014,
FairTest got an anonymous tip about cheating that included what the sender
claimed to be a copy of the December 2013 SAT that was supposedly going to be
administered at international sites Oct. 11. He said FairTest tried to confirm
the claims but could not.
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:12:55