Cheating on SAT's reflects an underlying problem that cannot be addressed simply by policies and practices to eliminate gaming the tests. Today's youth are pressured to score well on SAT's from before they can read. As early as 3 or 4, parents are having their kids coached to outscore their peers on the ERB entrance exam for NYC private schools.

As a society we need some perspective that good scores don't ensure acceptance in "top" schools, that "top" schools don't necessarily lead to entrance to "name brand" colleges and that attending Ivy League colleges does not set up students, automatically, for success in life.

As adults, parents need to convey to their kids that education is about the journey, and that each level of schooling is an experience in itself, not simply a means to an end. When parents begin to emphasize, through their actions as well as words, that their kids will be able to learn in schools that fit them well rather than in a particular school, and that there are many paths to success, kids will feel less urgency to score well on a particular test, even if it means cheating.

Liz Perelstein, School Choice International

As an SAT prep tutor who teaches dozens of students in New York City and internationally each test season, I agree with Liz Perelstain. Students are under tremendous pressure to succeed on these very important tests and with cheating and unethical behavior all around them, the temptations rise.

A recent article about an SAT test prep school in China emphasized how long and hard the students prepared for these tests – many more hours than any American student. They achieved great test scores, too, but not just because of the concentrated study: part of the curriculum was instruction on how to cheat! Students naturally are going to be demoralized to think that such cheaters might take the covetted spot at that Ivy League college that should have gone to them.

They also have to be aware of the inherent inequities in this test. A few years ago, Petersons, the company that scores all these standardized tests, announced that thousands of tests were misscored due to “moisture” on the papers. Some students received new, higher scores – months too late to help their college applications or financial awards – others perhaps were unjustly rewarded with overly high scores.

A lot has been made of the cultural bias of these tests, and how the greatest predictor of SAT success is the student’s family’s economic status. But the cultural bias affects all sorts of students. For my students in London, Paris and Kampala, the essay question on last year’s SAT, requiring students to respond to a prompt about American reality TV, was outrageously unfair. These students had never seen or heard of the phenomenon! (And this topic was equally unfair to American students who spent their time studying, working or doing anything other than wasting time on activities that really are the opposite of all that education seeks to foster in society.)

The tests are clearly unfair, but success in them is very, very important. Those condtions clearly encourage cheating.

Karen Berlin Ishii www.karenberlinishii.com

I am Professor Emeritus and my field includes a wide variety of regulatory tests. The SAT is equivalent to a regulatory test.
As others point out , it is a bad test. At the higher scores it means almost Nothing. Schools use it because they are lazy. The appalling thought is that the skills required to cheat on the test (especially by hiring a test taker) are actually desirable characteristics for some colleges. Rich undemanding clever academically passive students are very attractive to some institutions. Many will go on to Wall Street where cheating is a way of life so they are well on their way to meeting the intellectual and cultural requirements of their chosen profession.

Doesn't the DA have anything better to do? What about her crime lab - isn't it criminal how it was shut down. These kids deserve to be punished, but not by the criminal justice system! The DA needs to be punished for wasting my very hard-earned tax dollars!

Ethics and morality aside, what specific laws are alleged to have benn broken?

If we prosecuted and jailed people for "violations of ethics, morality and fair play, our prisons would fill with politicians.

I think that lack of effective proctoring to prevent cheating via cell phone plays into the DOE's prohibition. Of course most schools (the ones without metal detectors) have a don't ask-don't tell policy which enables kids to have their phones before and after school. But if teachers don't enforce the policy that phones should not be seen or heard in school, it promotes cheating, first bby the sociopaths and then by students worried that the playing field isn't level and overcome their aversion to cheating by assuming that they have to cheat.

I beg to beg the question. If we frame the issue as
how to stop cheating on the SAT, I don't believe we'll
get an effective answer.

I suggest SAT cheating, like MBA program cheating and
many other varieties, reflects the fact that our
schools are indentured to our economic system. More
than anything else, school is about getting the best
possible job, generally defined in terms of money.

The sense of self-worth of most Americans is similarly
indentured: financial success has become the central
self-image sought as a substitute for an inwardly
generated sense of self-worth.

Affirmation of self-worth is the first project of
every human being. Until that foundation has been
built and is stable, all other agendas are premature.
If financial success has become the measure of
self-worth, then whatever stands between us and that
affirmation will be overcome without much regard for
ethical constraints. If we need a high SAT score to open the door to a sense of self-worth, we'll get it by hook or by crook.

To pursue affirmation of self-worth through financial
success is tragically narcissistic, doomed to failure.
It is asking financial success -- a perfectly valid
objective standing alone -- to do something for us
that it cannot possibly do. We are living in a
profoundly narcissistic culture that focuses much more
on image than reality -- on looking good more than
being good. Until there is a sea-change in this
culture, the cheating will continue.

This diagnosis may look dispiriting: how can people
concerned about cheating change a culture?
Our narcissistic culture took a long time getting the
way it is. It won't be fixed by some tidy social
engineering or rule-making.

The first step is to start telling the truth about our culture and the way it is shaping our lives, right down to its
poisonous effect on our children. It is a story most people don't want to hear. But only that kind of truth-telling will open up the space required for new possibilities to emerge. .

I feel like such a pollyanna here. I've taken the SAT 5 times in 2011 -- each time at a different school, ranging from inner-city (the Bronx), to elite private and public schools in the suburbs. I was expecting to find a bigger variance in the proctors than I have in reality. My experience is that they are all strict and take the job very seriously.

I didn't see any cheating, or even, for that matter, any opportunity for cheating. Bathroom breaks are 5 minutes long (which feels much faster than it sounds), and often times I had to literally jog down the hallways to get there and back during that timeframe.

Is it possible that this SAT cheating story is being made bigger by the media and is actually less prevalent in the real world? Obviously it's a high stakes test, but my gut says that the vast majority of test takers are doing it honestly.

That said, this cheating issue aside -- those who are extensively coached have a huge advantage, no question. But that's another story.

Cheating the system is, was and always will be rampant in any society -- unfortunately. From little acorns, great oaks do grow. Sometimes. Is today's SAT cheater tomorrow's insider trader? Who knows. But there is a big, haunting murky area here. If you have cheated on the SATs or ACTs or SAT 2s or whatever (or even in school) and not paid the price for it before college, will you for the rest of your life be haunted by the fact that you perhaps should not be there or have attended? That is a lot to live with for 60 years or more, isn't it? I know for a fact that the overwhelming majority of test takers do not cheat the SAT or any of the other college admissions test: perhaps because they are honest kids and perhaps for some because they are afraid to cheat and get caught. But we have turned college admissions into bonafide survival of the fittest so haven't we: parents, colleges, high schools etc. contributed to the problem just a bit by the amount of pressure we put on students to excel excel excel? This doesn't excuse cheating in any way: but it is food for thought.

PS Hi, Roberta!

I cannot believe that no one has looked at how these professional cheaters got paid.. I guess...possibly the parents? Don't know for sure...Worth checking into. You agree?

Very simple - there is a video "Being In Control : Natural Solutions for ADHD Dyslexia and Test Anxiety."In the video are are relaxation/concentration techniques, seated yoga, memory techniques, speed reading, time management , and organization of materials help with some test taking strategies. All for much less than the jail term and having someone else take your exam. With Amazon.com

Ugh. This is some really shoddy reporting by the NYT.

To my knowledge, there is no such crime as "taking the test for others," so for what crime were the students actually arrested? We are not told to which agency or jurisdiction these students surrendered, only that they surrendered to some nebulous something, called the "authorities". City? State? Federal?
Who knows.

why is the penalty for cheating on a test 4 yrs in prison, but guys like Jon Corzine and other executives at big banks get a fine and slap on the wrist?

this is ridiculous. people cheat on tests all the time. i say kudos for the students that know how to outsource. isnt that what managing is mainly about? hiring people that are better than you at something?

Why is the media not questioning whether these arrests and prosecutions are appropriate uses of government resources? Why is this not treated as a civil matter? Why is the District Attorney acting as the enforcement department of PRIVATE entities such as Educational Testing Services and the College Board? These are PRIVATE companies who collect fees from students for administering tests and reporting test scores. Why aren't these companies required to pursue violations of any user agreements civilly?

Even though cheating is obviously morally wrong, it makes no sense for the government to be prosecuting what should be a private, civil matter between the private entity Educational Testing Service, The College Board, individual institutions who use the test scores, the test takers, and the students hired to take the test. It simply isn't clear at all how the larger society has been harmed that would justify the intervention of government authorities. ETS, The College Board and the individual institutions should be required to secure the legitimacy of their own fee-based testing services and products. The government should not be involved.

Will the government prosecute when students pad their academic résumés, or overstates extracurriculat involvement? What if a student fictionalizes elements of his/her college admissions essay, or pays a consultant for assistance in writing same? What about employment applicants inflating their professional résumés? All of these are morally and ethically wrong, but no District Attorney has EVER prosecuted anyone anywhere for any of these wrongdoings.

So the question persists: Why is the government doing the dirty work for ETS and the College Board? Let these institutions pursue their OWN remedies civilly and stop wasting prosecutorial resources for these companies private gain.

The students taking the tests committed fraud by assuming fake identities and taking the test for others. It's not just like theyre being prosecuted for looking at someone's answers.

Have we forgotten that the S.A.T. is an opening of a door - If these students could not do the work all their cheating to get there is meaningless...........if it is meaningless we have to look at the schools as much as the students
Do the ends justify the means ?.? Afghanistan - Iraq ?.? WAR instead of PEACE

I just did some searching on the internet and it looks
like that SAT is still administered on the Paper. If
this is true then the best way to prevent cheating
would be to first adopt the Computerized implementation
of the exam just like the majority of the exams are
administered now. Then simply use biometrics to prevent
cheating. Sooner or later it's going to happen.
Considering what's been happening it might as well be
now.
Regards.