It appears that last Thursday’s story regarding 199 students having SAT scores invalidated at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights is more serious than originally suspected. The New York Times reported then that the collegiate entrance exam results—including those for 63 enrolled at Packer—were nixed because proctors failed to set up students’ desks at least four feet apart.
However, the Wall Street Journal intimated that a surprise audit by the Educational Testing Service, which administers the SATs on behalf of the College Board, “revealed numerous infractions”—which now appears to be painfully true, with school head Bruce Dennis saying he was “blindsided.”
The Times reported today that over the weekend, an internal memo obtained by the newspaper reveals the proctoring problems were quite extensive:
Before the test began, proctors left booklets unattended in classrooms for approximately 15 minutes, and during the test [proctors] were ‘on cellphones, on laptops, reading books and reading test materials,’ all of which were prohibited. They also allowed students to select their own seats for the exam, a direct violation of a rule that calls for test supervisors to seat students randomly. And, as the students returned to their test rooms after breaks, the proctors failed to verify or ask for identification.
Packer officials at first accused ETA of overreacting, but on Friday expressed “surprise at the extent of the problems,” The Times reports. Packer was also to host another SAT exam in June, but it has been ruled out while the school makes “necessary adjustments,” according to the memo.
Bruce Dennis, head of Packer, said he “relieved the supervisor of her testing duties after the scores were thrown out,” and that he was “blindsided” to learn of the further grievances: “This is an extremely bad situation. They’ve taken what I thought was an overreaction and just made it worse.”
Read the New York Times article here.
