Press Releases
The College Board Reviews Issues Involving October 2005 SAT®
03/22/06
The College Board today announced the outcome of remaining issues involving the October 2005 SAT. The College Board and its scanning vendor, Pearson Educational Measurement, are implementing a series of new procedures and policies to further minimize the chance of score changes in the future.
Two weeks ago, the College Board disclosed that, of the 495,000 students who took the October 2005 SAT Reasoning Test™, approximately 4,000 students' scores were higher than originally reported.
The College Board subsequently became aware that 1,600 student answer sheets from among the original 495,000 had not been rescanned. These tests have now been rescanned and a total of 18 of those students will receive higher scores.
On March 15, the College Board again asked Pearson to confirm that all of the October tests had been rescanned. Last weekend, Pearson informed the College Board that 27,000 of the original 495,000 tests had not been fully evaluated and that they would do so promptly. Pearson has completed its investigation and an additional 375 students will receive higher scores. In summary, the total number of students who will have higher scores re-reported is 4,411.
Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board said, "Accuracy and integrity are the foundation of the College Board. The students who take our exams expect us to operate with the highest standards and we expect that of ourselves and our partner firms.
"I am confident that Pearson has attempted to address this problem thoroughly and aggressively. Unfortunately, the process of gathering, rescanning and reviewing the tests proved more complicated and time-consuming than they originally anticipated. Drawing on the lessons of this experience, and consistent with our commitment to keep the public trust, we are implementing a number of policy and procedure changes."
Going forward, the College Board, through its vendor, Pearson Educational Measurement, will:
- Scan each answer sheet twice.
- Improve software to identify any answer sheet expansion that might occur due to humidity.
- Ensure that all answer sheets are acclimatized before scanning to eliminate any possibility of a humidity impact.
- Engage Booz Allen Hamilton to perform a comprehensive review, with particular emphasis on the scanning process. Booz Allen Hamilton is a global strategy and technology consulting firm that works with large corporations, emerging growth companies, government agencies, and institutions. Booz Allen Hamilton will provide recommendations within 90 days.
Douglas Kubach, chief executive of Pearson Educational Measurement, said, "We very much regret the uncertainty and disruption these issues caused. Working with the College Board, we are determined to take every possible necessary step to restore confidence in this process. Electronic scanning of answers is essential to giving the large number of students who take the SAT the speed and accuracy they require in this important test."
Caperton said, "We will put whatever resources we need into resolving this type of situation. Our goal is that students never have to experience such inconvenience again and colleges never have to be caught in such a trying situation during the hectic admissions season."
For more information, please contact the Public Affairs office at 212 713-8052.