May 22, 2012

Students Have To Re-take SATs Because Proctors Screwed Up

Imagine you took your SATs. Thought you did pretty well. No matter what you’re probably relieved that the test is over.

Now imagine you have to re-take the test. Not because you did anything wrong. Because the proctors screwed up.

That’s what happened recently to 199 students who took the SAT at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights, according to reports in the New York Times. There are certain things that proctors are supposed to do, such as not let test takers chat on cellphones and check the students’ identification. ID checking goes back to when I took the test in 19**; I remember because I didn’t have a driver’s license and had to come up with some other form of ID, probably a birth certificate and/or original social security card.

Apparently all I needed to do was take the test somewhere where the test proctors don’t bother looking. “Badges? We don’t need to see your stinking badges.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqomZQMZQCQ]

Except that in this case nobody would have to say it, because nobody would have asked.

The kids probably would have shown identification if asked. Maybe there were only a couple of test takers that did stuff in violation of the rules. Maybe it was only the proctors, I don’t know. I do know that, according to what I’ve read, the fault lies with the grown-ups, not the kids.

Test-taking is a funny thing. You could do well one day, poorly the next. I have no idea if SAT scores matter as much as they did when I was applying to colleges. They clearly matter somewhat; if they didn’t, students wouldn’t take the test. Having to re-take an exam as big and onerous as the SATs because the people in charge didn’t bother to do their jobs correctly would make me nuts. I’m not even directly effected by this news and it makes me a little bit nuts. So annoying.

SAT Scores Invalidated Because Proctors Were ‘Inattentive,’ Report Finds – NYTimes.com.


This post was written by Daddy

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