Zane DeZeeuw's Article

SAT Cheating Scandal

I stand for too much pressure put on students to do well on tests.

People argue that the kids caught in the SAT cheating scandal are the ones at fault for cheating. However, it is the increased emphasis that the college board places on the tests results in order to admit students to college that drove the students to cheat.
Prosecutors in Nassau County, New Jersey have recently accused a total of 20 students for cheating on the SAT and ACT tests between 2008-2011. Fifteen students were accused of paying five other students anywhere from $500 to $3,500 to take the test for them.
There is no excuse for cheating on tests: however, some of the accused students are facing up to four years in prison for first degree scheming to defraud, second degree falsifying business records, and second degree criminal impersonation. This seems a bit extreme for cheating on a test.
Students everywhere feel the pressure of the SAT and ACT tests. These tests determine which colleges they can be accepted to which ultimately decides a student’s career and future. This puts a ton of pressure on students to do well on these exams which drove these students to cheat.
If the college board wishes that students would not cheat on the tests, the board must place less emphasis on the test’s scores to admit a student into college. The college board instead must place more emphasis on character and commitment to education. Students will then feel less pressure to do well on the tests.
Students are going to try and cheat on these tests because they feel an overwhelming pressure to do well in order to get into college. The cure is not to get rid of the tests altogether, but the cure is to place less emphasis on the test’s results.

Sources:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/2580/thirteen-new-jersey-students-arrested-for-sat-cheating-scandal&referral=category_list
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57329627/more-students-implicated-in-sat-cheating-scandal/
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/source-more-arrests-in-sat-scandal-tuesday-1.3336121