MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — New details, exclusive to CBS 2, emerged Thursday about the broadening investigation into Long Island’s college admissions cheating scandal.
Reporter Jennifer McLogan has learned why multiple stand-ins took both SAT and ACT exams at multiple schools and how they got away with it.
A private eye and defense attorney have proof the cheating probe is widening.
“We’ve had other suspects contact us,” McLogan was told.
They were recently approached by new suspects — targets of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s ongoing college admissions exams investigation. The men already represent Great Neck North High School graduate Sam Eshaghoff, the accused mastermind of the impersonation-for-hire-scam.
When asked if Eshaghoff is involved in the widening scandal, attorney Matin Emouna said, “He is not involved in this widening scandal at all. He was just the poster boy for what had happened.”
Sources told McLogan that 35 to 40 additional students in at least five schools may have paid thousands of dollars to “stand-ins” to take not only the SAT, but also the ACT, a standardized test growing in popularity in our area.
McLogan has learned exclusively how both tests played off one another to catch the crooks.
Here’s how it worked: The SAT cheater would take a test for himself and get a low score. The second time the cheater would hire a stand-in, who, in turn, would get a high score. That discrepancy would be flagged and the test cancelled.
When that happens the cheater would switch to the ACT and hire a high-scoring stand-in from the start to avoid the flagging process.
The ACT would certify the single high score and colleges would receive only that score. The SAT score would be withheld by the student.
“Millions of kids take the SATs and ACTs every year. The message needs to be sent loud and clear: if you’re going to cheat you’re going to be caught and there will be consequences,” Rice said back on Oct. 20.
At a recent State Senate hearing security measures and lax oversight of the high stakes tests were blasted. The Educational Testing Service then brought in the former head of the FBI.
“It took this for this to hire somebody of the quality and high standards of a Louis Freeh to try to clean this mess up,” private investigator Les Levin said.
McLogan has learned the additional arrests will include students who paid others to take their tests, those who took the tests and the cash, and others who created fake IDs.
Nassau district attorney investigators are backing away from a specific time frame for arrests, as they wait for additional information from the ACT.
32 comments:
It is completely ridiculous that these students are smart enough to think of an idea like this, but they think that they are unable to score highly on these tests. The punishments are fitting, however. Cheating on such a test will change the lives of the people involved. It will be on their record for life. If they do poorly on the test, they can easily study and raise their score, the concequences would have been much less severe. These students are probably some of the stupidest smart people I have ever heard of.
I find it amusing that this issue is just now coming to the forefront of the test agencies' minds. Everyone knows that people hire stand ins for the SAT, so why would they not for the ACT? The two agencies should have begun their collaborative effort to stop cheating way before it reached the level of "scandal". To me it seems curious that their system was so vulnerable to penetration. The SAT and ACT tests can be the difference between getting an Ivy League education or a degree from a community college, a huge deal. For every person that got into a great school by cheating there was a truly deserving student who had to settle for less. I hope the testing agencies are able to effectively stop the trend of cheating before academic dishonesty of this level becomes the norm and getting into a good university isn't a matter of how smart you are, but how amoral.
I find it amusing that this issue is just now coming to the forefront of the test agencies' minds. Everyone knows that people hire stand ins for the SAT, so why would they not for the ACT? The two agencies should have begun their collaborative effort to stop cheating way before it reached the level of "scandal". To me it seems curious that their system was so vulnerable to penetration. The SAT and ACT tests can be the difference between getting an Ivy League education or a degree from a community college, a huge deal. For every person that got into a great school by cheating there was a truly deserving student who had to settle for less. I hope the testing agencies are able to effectively stop the trend of cheating before academic dishonesty of this level becomes the norm and getting into a good university isn't a matter of how smart you are, but how amoral.
I don't understand why students would pay thousands of dollars for another person to take their test. They should use the money to buy study guides and tutors and learn the material themselves. And if they are having to pay someone that much then they are most likely wanting to go to a prestigious college where the class work will be much harder than the SAT/ACT. It's not fair towards others when they are cheating.
So these students are smart enough to create such a complex plan and escape taking the test themselves but stupid enough to spend $1000 for stand-ins and the possibility of ruining their lives forever... for ONE standardized test? Like many high school teachers have mentioned, SAT/ACT scores don't count THAT much. School grades, volunteering, general well being shapes your entire college application. With their ability to figure out such a plan + the thousand bucks, they could easily score a perfect score, on both tests, by themselves.
I personaly find this very ammusing it doesn't make any sence to pay someone to take an sat and score highly for them. Its only hurting them. If they pay someone and they get a high score they are expected to do well in college well what happens if they dont well there goes their scholarship and they will probably fail.
This is one of the few things that really aggravate me because many are able to get away with this while me and many other people with souls and morals work hard to earn a good score. This isn't the first time this cheating method has been used though. People have been doing this since the creation of the test. It is difficult to stop this method while it's happening because this test is administered throughout the United States all on the same day, and it is difficult to thoroughly screen each tester. I think what the SAT and ACT board should do is create a system where if one is caught cheating on one test that they are automatically completely ineligible to take the other test. This would send a serious message to all students who plan on doing this in the future. It's sad that the cheating has escalated to 35-40 in one city. Hopefully the standardized test agencies can enforce a really strong punishment against these terrible excuses as humans. :)
This is just ridiculous. Some of these kids are probably very intelligent and yet they're so worried that they won't get the best score. This is exactly what happened last year at Lubbock High. There was a cheating scheme going on in the English and the Bio II classes. These kids were very smart, but they just couldn't settle with second best score.
I find it kinda funny i mean its not funny for other students that work so hard and end up going to a smaller college while, the cheater gets the better school. It just comes to show that students aren't that dumb they always find away around everything, in this case they found there way around one of the hardest test in ones life it sets the way for your furture. And now when getting caught it messes up their life pretty much for good what college wants a cheating student.
The interesting thing about this is how shortsighted the students who paid for the stand-ins are. Even if the stand-in gets them a high enough score on the SAT or ACT to get them in a prestigious school, they will still not have the knowledge to operate at that level and will just end up paying thousands of dollars to get into a good school that they flunk out of because they don't have what it takes to be there.
Its sad what colleges and adults do to children's heads. We grow up being pressured into making perfect grades and go to an amazing college and then think we will end up homeless if we dont. Its so stressful now because we think we need to do perfect in school. Everyone these days cheat and adults dont understand becasue they didnt have any pressure as a child. They got fake I.D's to buy alchohol, not to cheat on a test. I dont agree with these students cheating at all but I can feel for them. I know their parents were always forcing them to do perfect and sometimes kids just arent smart enough. Get off of our backs and let us enjoy our childhood.
I find this pathetic, very amusing, but pathetic. A student with high scores has quite a few door opened to them. For a student with enough money but not enough brains to open these doors; I predict their dropping out early. If you have that money, don't cheat, just buy your way into college if you are so inclined. It seems like that would be less consequential. I mean, they brought in the former director of the FBI and you serve jail time. The SAT is nothing to joke about. It's your education. Life starts around this point in most people. Cheating is like not doing your job. Not doing your job gets you fired or under the right circumstances, also in jail. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you can get away with the crime. Now, the college board has announced that it means business when it comes to cheaters. If only they'd done this sooner.
It is pathetic how some students are that desperate these days. If they (or their parents) honestly have that amount of money to spend for a stand-in, then they have the amount to spend on books and tutors to actually help them either make a decent grade or pass the SAT/ACT with flying colors. These students have multiple chances at succeeding at either one of these tests, but they chose to risk their future instead of sitting down and studying themselves. As for all of the people involved in this scandal, the consequences fit the crime perfectly.
Cheating seems to have become into a bigger problem for the past decade. If students are cheating on something as important as the SAT/ACT without any moral debate with themselves, the students must have already cheated on tests well before taking the test. Teachers and educators need to emphasis more about cheating and their punishments, especially in the elementary and high school level. Everyone dreams about attending any of the Ivy League schools, but going to an Ivy League school doesn't technically guarantee someone a job once he/she graduates. Yes, the name of an Ivy League school on your resume would look pretty on paper, however, large corporations will not pick you because you graduated from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc. Large corporations put you in a series of situations and see how well you solve and respond to the issue, but if you've been cheating your entire college life, what makes you think that you can all of a sudden think for yourself in that stressful situation? If someone simply can't put some effort in taking the SAT/ACT, what makes you think that his/her attitude will be any different once he/she finds a job?
This really doesn't surprise me. Society's degrading. Almost everybody these days cheats. And I think that it's pretty obvious that people are going to continue to cheat. And they're going to find more creative ways to do it. Some kids really just don't care about earning success. They would rather just pay for someone else to do it.
There is no point to spend thousand of dollars for someone to take the SAT/ACT test for you. That is far to extreme if you dont believe in yourself then take the time to take study for the test not pay someone. Its not going to look good when you get into a college for your scores the have trouble down the line in college. So they should take the time to study. The punishment fits the crime they all deserve to be punsihed for it.
I think the fact that the students thought they could get away with this is hilarious. I can understand why they didn't want to take the test, but hiring someone else to take it for you takes more effort than just actually sitting down and taking it yourself. As much as I dislike standardized testing, especially since it doesn't always accurately reflect a students work ethic, I would never hire someone to get a higher score for me.
If these students are clever enough to almost get away with this scandal, then they should be clever enough to actually study for the test and receive an exceptional score without the use of cheating. The punishment for this is does not seem fair because they're only cheating themselves and not directly harming anyone else. If the testing officials wish to terminate this defection, then they should enforce stricter security.
If these students are clever enough to almost get away with this scandal, then they should be clever enough to actually study for the test and receive an exceptional score without the use of cheating. The punishment for this is does not seem fair because they're only cheating themselves and not directly harming anyone else. If the testing officials wish to terminate this defection, then they should enforce stricter security.
If these students are so worried about getting a good score on the SAT/ACT, why would they risk cheating? And, if they are not willing to study for a test that sets up your future school plans they will not be willing to take on the coursework that comes from getting into a prestigious college. It isn't fair to the majority of students who work hard and study for months to score well on these tests. This is just another example of how easy it has become to just buy your grades. I hope that these agencies will take more care with security so that the people will get the scores they worked for and not the ones they paid for.
Its interesting how these students have the time, energy and brains to come up with this but dont have the time, energy and brians to simply study for the test. Also, the risk wouldnt be worth it and they are only jeopardizing their chances for success.
It is completely irresponsible of these students to put together such a scheme. They absolutely deserve the punishment; if I were one of the non-cheating students, I'd be angry if one of the stand-ins scored higher than I did, in someone else's name. I agree with the fact that it is amusing that this issue is just now coming to the attention of the agencies' minds.. it's all quite ridiculous to me. Why would you higher someone else to take a test for you? And why would you take a test for someone else? Good grief, people just get more and more stupid. Think about the consequences of your actions.
Kids spent many hours studying for the SAT and ACT to get high scores, and for these kids to cheat is unfair. It is dumb to pay somebody a thousand dollars to take the test for them when the put that money into studying.
I believe it is absolutely absurd that students are cheating on SATs and ACTs. Do they honestly believe that they can get away with it? I guess if you're desperate enough that you are willing to pay thousands of dollars to a stranger to take a test they are probably more than capable that doing well on themselves. Besides, do they actually believe that they could do well in a really good school, such as an Ivy League school, if they can't even do well on the SAT or ACT?... I also find it concerning that after the very first time they take the SAT and don't do well they give up and resort to an unethical and potentially harmful alternative...
Though I believe that this is wrong for these people to do I also believe that these tests are plain ridiculous. I am sure that they help the different schools accept the people that they believe have the correct amount of knowledge to get into their school but some students are just awful when it comes to testing or being put under pressure. These students who paid thousands of dollars may be lazy students who didn't want to study but they could have also been students who don't comprehend as much as the next but still care enough about their future to cheat and hope that they'll still become successful in life. We need to get rid of standardized tests because they make people believe that they are not worth as much as the next if their performance is unacceptable.
These students have put so much effort into cheating its ridiculous. If they would have take all this time and money to buy SAT/ACT study guides and studied, they probably wouldn't have done as bad as they thought. If by doing this their intentions were to get into a good college then they are only hurting themselves. The ones that don't get caught and get into the colleges they'd like are going to be very lost since they don't belong there. I do think they should find a more effective way of catching the cheaters. Anyone that bombed the fist attempt at taking the SAT could study hard and get a good score the second time, it doesn't necessarily mean they hired a stand in. As for the stand ins, they must feel awful. These were actual smart kids that could have gotten into any school they wanted to but because of a stupid decision, that made them a little bit of money, they might not even get into their back up college.
I get why these students are doing this. Sure, they want to have a chance to get into their choice of college, but it's stupid and ludicrous. Cheating can only get you so far. If a student doesn't think they can pass the SAT/ACT without cheating, what makes them think they should even go to college? There comes a point in life where you actually need to know the material you should be learning. These student are wasting their money when they could be using it for study material. I'm glad someone finally caught on to the scandal, but there will always those people looking for an easy way out.
These students are not thinking through what they are doing and what it could do to their future. This is not only effecting the cheaters but the stand-ins that are getting paid off. If these students are worried about scoring low on these tests, they have even bigger problems when schools find out they cheated on the ACT/SAT tests. These tests are just tests every student has to take for colleges and to see how well they will do. And if they are already unrealiable starting off, imagine how worse off they will be later on in life. Arresting all the students involved is the right punishment, to set the example for anyone else who thinks they will beat the system.
I believe the consequences that the cheaters and everyone else involved with these scandals are fair. Cheating on more important tests such as the SATs and ACTs should be taken much more seriously as Rice put it. These tests are a huge determination on what higher education you receive and it is troubling to think of anyone being cheated of their hard work simply because of situations like this.
I find this pretty amazing how they are just figuring it out that people cheat. Students now a dats cheat all the time because they know they have the capability to do everything but yet they are just way to lazy. I am sure that this has been going on for a long time but now the number has increased on how many people are now starting to do it. It ridicuous tho to the idea that the people that are doing he stand ins are taking this test about 50 times or evern more. I don't know what's crossing their mind if they think they are not going to get cuahgt I feel as tho I would be so scared to do that even once. All over cheating has been increased by 1000's and it is seriously starting to get out of hand. Yeah the administration is a little late on the problem but good thing they have caught on to the problem. Because nobody should be able to get into a college that they don't deserve to be in.
Cheating in school and on tests like the SAT and ACT has always taken place. And, people will always find ways to cheat in the future. This cheating devalues the degree or, in this case, the test scores and test. The article mentions that the if someone gets a low score on the first SAT and a subsequently higher score on a second SAT, the second SAT score is cancelled. There are plenty of reasons why someone would do better on subsequent SATS: the person was sick when he took the first one; the person had a death in the family or another tragic event shortly before taking the first SAT; the person didn't study for the first SAT, thinking he would do well; the person studied harder for the second SAT; etc. So, because others cheat, this person should be punished? A possible solution is to have each student IDed by something like fingerprints that can't be faked by someone else at an yearly age (say 14) by his school. Each time he takes an SAT or ACT, he provides this ID. If there is a large difference in test scores, the test administrators check both sets of ID to make sure there is a match. If there is a match, then the score is valid. If there is no match, the administrators report that there IDs don't match and the second score is voided permanently. This way, colleges know that the person cheated on his SAT or ACT.
Really, what good does that do? It will only help a kid get into a college he or she obviously can't handle. The tests are there for a reason -- to see if the student could put in the work that a prestigious college requires. Although, the students aren't entirely to blame -- their parents, their friends, even society in general have probably convinced these kids that their lives will be over if they don't get into a prestigious enough school, never mind if it fits the student or not. Still, the whole cheating thing is so stupid and not even close to being worth the time of the investigators.
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