Years of work went into redoing the SAT, a college admissions test; however just months after completion, the questions were leaked…
Security has been noted as a concern for the not-for-profit College Board since 2013, when it was addressed by Gartner INC. The issue was raised again in 2014 by employees, yet no enhancements were made. The issue, perhaps had never been more crucial, with the release of the new SAT form. However, again nothing was done to harden their security measures.
In March of 2016, the new SAT was unveiled, and just months later some of the questions were leaked. Reuters reported the questions that were exposed were reading passages, along with questions correlating with them, as well as about 160 math questions.
At this time, it is unknown how many individuals have seen or have possession of the SAT questions. However, as a preventative measure, the administration is removing all of the forms that contain the content that was exposed.
One of the major concerns beyond the breach, is the potential reputational damage this could have on the SAT exam. It is one of the most relied upon testing components for college admissions, and knowing the security for such important information is lackluster could create shadows of doubt.
James Wollack, director of the Center for Placement Testing at the University of Wisconsin made this statement to Reuters:
“A test like the SAT … is so important and so consequential and is taken by people all over the world. The College Board, especially for this program, needs to be leading the industry in terms of security.”
