Florida Teen Accused Of Cheating After Improving Her SAT Score By 330 Points
Last March, high school senior Kamilah Campbell, who dreams of attending Florida State University, scored a 900 on her first attempt at the SAT. Knowing that the highest score possible is 1600, Campbell decided to retake the exam.
With the help of a tutor, online classes and a copy of a The Princeton Review prep book, Campbell retook the test in October. When she finally got a letter from the testing company, Campbell was shocked to see that instead of revealing her test score, she was accused of cheating, reported CNN.
"We are writing to you because based on a preliminary review, there appears to be substantial evidence that your scores ... are invalid," the letter read. "Our preliminary concerns are based on substantial agreement between your answers on one or more scored sections of the test and those of other test takers. The anomalies noted above raise concerns about the validity of your scores."
Campbell then called the Educational Testing Service, which administered the exam, and was told by a representative that she scored a 1230.
However, the new score has not been released and accepted as valid, meaning Campbell could not use it on her Florida State application, which stopped taking test scores on Jan. 1.
"I did not cheat. I studied, and I focused to achieve my dream," she told reporters Wednesday. "I worked so hard and did everything I could do."
A spokesman for The College Board, the company that creates the SAT, said scored are not usually flagged after improvement.
In an email to CNN, Zach Goldberg, stated, "the letter never references score gains as a reason for her scores being under review.”
Despite Goldberg’s assurance, civil rights attorney and Florida State alumnus Ben Crump is ready to take legal action for Campbell’s scores to be validated in time for the teen to be accepted into the Florida State dance program.
"Instead of celebrating her and celebrating her achievement, they are trying to assassinate her character, and we won't stand for that," Crump said to reporters.
The company has two weeks to respond to a demand letter, Crump added, even though reviews typically take four to six weeks, according to Goldberg.
"At the end of the score validity process, we will only cancel scores if we are confident that there is substantial evidence to do so," Goldberg continued, without offering a time frame. "We never cancel scores on score gains alone."