The standardized test cheating scandal that rocked Great Neck North High School now has a national response with the release of new security measures designed by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and test makers ACT Inc. and the College Board.
Students must now provide photo identification in advance, which will then be printed on admission tickets to the college assessment exams. Individual test results, including attached photographs, are sent for verification purposes to students’ high schools, and test takers must acknowledge the possibility of criminal prosecution for impersonating other students.
“When students nationwide sit for the SAT for the first time this school year on Saturday, new security measures will be in place to ensure that honest kids don’t take a back seat to cheaters,” wrote District Attorney Kathleen Rice in a press release this week. “Test administrators have implemented tough, high-tech security measures that I am confident will almost eliminate the kind of cheating we found to be so easy last year. More can be done to ensure that those who still try to cheat are held accountable, but I am grateful for the work the testing companies have done to ensure that cheating doesn’t pay.”
The new regulations also beef up test-day security. Same day test registration and 11th hour venue changes are now prohibited, and students are subject to multiple identification checks throughout the testing process.
Great Neck was the epicenter of the scandal during Sept. 2011, when six North High School students were arrested on misdemeanor charges for paying 2010 alumnus and Emory College student Samuel Eshaghoff up to $2,500 to sit their SATs. The scope of the investigation widened until 20 Nassau County students were facing charges.
“Great Neck Public Schools are very happy that the flaws that we identified last year have been partially addressed by [SAT administrators] the Educational Testing Service,” said Great Neck Schools Superintendent Thomas Dolan. “When we contacted ETS last year with our concerns, it was our hope that they would implement some of the very changes that they have now undertaken.”
All but two of the cases have been resolved, according to the Rice’s office. With the exception of Eshaghoff, who was 19 at the time of his arrest, all the alleged offenders will be judged as juveniles and have their records sealed.
Eshaghoff, the son of former Great Neck Library Board president Janet Eshaghoff, faces up to four years in prison on charges of fraud, business record falsification and criminal impersonation.
The cheating drew national attention to the academic culture of Great Neck schools, which are rated among the best in the United States.
According to the DA’s office, cheating students avoided discovery by taking their tests off campus, where their faces would not be recognized. The photo identification requirements and restrictions on location and registration are designed to address such security loopholes.
The enhanced security measures took effect with the Oct. 6 SAT testing session, according to the press release. The ACT began to implement its security changes Sept. 8, and will roll out the full photo identification requirements during future tests.
