Massapequa Reiterates SAT and ACT Testing Policy

Written by Joe Scotchie: jscotchie@antonnews.com Friday, 13 April 2012 00:00

School district in ‘full and strict compliance’ with security requirements

As reported in last week’s issue, Nassau County is establishing new standardized testing rules for high school students taking SAT and ACT exams. (“Sweeping Security Changes for SAT/ACT Testing,” The Massapequan Observer, April 6, 2012).

Among the new testing security measures are student photograph requirements. All test registrants, county officials said, will be required to upload a photograph of themselves when they register for the SAT or ACT. 

The Massapequa School District issued its own statement on the new requirements and the testing process in general.

“From start to finish, the Massapequa School District is in full and strict compliance with all the SAT security requirements set forth by the College Board,” said Superintendent of Schools Charles Sulc. “These procedures include no admittance to the testing site without a registration form and required photo ID as specified by the College Board. Once students show proper ID to a proctor, they are given a room admittance ticket with a room and seat number. When they arrive at their assigned room, their IDs are checked again and they must hand the proctor their admittance ticket when they sit in their assigned seat. As an extra security measure, the district provides additional proctors to monitor testing procedures beyond those required by the College Board.”

Other measures, announced by the offices of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, include:

• All test registrants will be required to identify their high school during registration.

• All test registrants will provide their date of birth and gender, which will be printed on the test site roster.

• Standby test registration in its current form will be eliminated. 

• Students will certify their identity in writing at the test center, and acknowledge the possibility of a criminal referral and prosecution for engaging in criminal impersonation.

• Proctors will check students’ identification more frequently at test centers.

• Testing companies will provide a mechanism during registration for parents to receive test-related communications.

• Testing companies may conduct spot checks with enhanced security at randomly selected locations, or where cheating is suspected.

• Proctors will receive additional training to help them identify cheaters and high school and college officials will receive more information about reporting suspected cheating to testing companies.

A “SAT scandal” broke last September 2011, when the staff at Great Neck North High School discovered the possibility of a cheating ring and the North High administration, following their own research, brought the issue to the attention of the DA’s office.

At a recent press conference, Rice said that the “North High faculty had heard rumors that students had paid a third party to take the SAT for them.” The faculty, in time, found discrepancies between student records and exam results for students who took the exams at a different school. The reforms, county officials emphasized, impose no new cost to students.

Wendy Kreitzman contributed to this article.