Cheating Scandal Could Turn Into Lawsuit in New Jersey

 

JULIET ALEMAN BINTA DIALLO Staff Writer News Editor

Brendan Clare, an average high school student was accused of cheating on his ACT, which stands for American College Test. He received his results of the the exam May 2, 2018 and in order to ensure his score of 26, ACT contacted Clare accusing him of cheating. Clare had taken the ACT twice and the first score he received was a 21, so the jump in his score had ACT confused. Clare has the options of having his scores invalidated, offering evidence that they were valid or retaking the test.

“If a person is caught cheating on a test as important as ACT, I believe thatt it should be taken as seriously as possible only because this is the test that can determine one’s whole future and what college they end up going to” senior Winston Yan said.

He trieds to convince ACT that he did notcheat with evidence of tutors he hired and books he purchased which helped him improve, however he felt obligated to retake the test and he did so, because if he did not he could lose his $25,000 scholarship and his ability to apply to his dream school which was Pennsylvania State University. His new score resulted in a 25. Clare has decided to sue ACT with the help of his father because he is lawyer and his mother has also sued ACT in New Jersey court for multiple grounds. The suit includes ACT failing to notify Clare 10 months after he took the test. Which also happened to be around the time his admissions to college would be accepted or denied.

“If people worked hard for their score, it should be rewardsed , but only if they did not cheat“ sophomore Nathan Barajas said.

The suit against the ACT company challenges the way the testing company determines who may have cheated. The reason the ACT believed C;lare had cheated was because of his drastic improvement between his first time taking the test and his second time. Currently, the law suit is still taking place, but Robert Schaeffere, a critic of the ACT and College Board says that this could be a very significant case.