The school accused my son of cheating on the PSAT three months after taking the test.

[domesticmba33]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AR
Three months after taking the PSAT at school, my son is accused of working in an incorrect section by one of the four teachers/proctors. The dean calls him in his office to inform him. He denies cheating. The dean questions the teacher and the teacher confirms that my son was working in the wrong section but did not follow the procedures for reporting. My sons scores were invalidated, he was punished, and has a permanent honor code violation on his record. He says he did not cheat or work in the wrong section. We've spoken with the Dean and he says he must side with the teacher. My son says he was not working in the wrong section and did not cheat in any way. The school has no proof, no video, the other three teachers did not see him work in the wrong section, and the reporting procedures were not followed. My son has written statements from surrounding students that they did not see him working in another section, nor did they see the teacher near my son, nor did they see the teacher take my son's test (which is the procedure for cheating.) Our appeals have not worked. Should we get a lawyer or do something else?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AR
Three months after taking the PSAT at school, my son is accused of working in an incorrect section by one of the four teachers/proctors. The dean calls him in his office to inform him. He denies cheating. The dean questions the teacher and the teacher confirms that my son was working in the wrong section but did not follow the procedures for reporting. My sons scores were invalidated, he was punished, and has a permanent honor code violation on his record. He says he did not cheat or work in the wrong section. We've spoken with the Dean and he says he must side with the teacher. My son says he was not working in the wrong section and did not cheat in any way. The school has no proof, no video, the other three teachers did not see him work in the wrong section, and the reporting procedures were not followed. My son has written statements from surrounding students that they did not see him working in another section, nor did they see the teacher near my son, nor did they see the teacher take my son's test (which is the procedure for cheating). Our appeals have not worked. Should we get a lawyer or do something else?

First, here is a link to the PSAT Supervisors Manual: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/supervisors-manual-psat-nmsqt.pdf

What I bolded above in your post is not necessarily correct. The tests are not always taken but instead the supervisor of the test will submit an "Irregularity Report" and the test that has spawned an irregularity report can be placed on top of all other tests for review by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

You can start on Page 11 of the Manual (linked above) for "Reporting Irregularities." Page 13 of the Manual has information on reporting individual irregularities, such as working on the wrong section of the test as your son was accused of doing. The correct procedure would have been to inform your son he was working on the wrong section and direct him to the correct section with a warning.

Page 16 of the Manual shows that the "script" followed by the supervisors includes information for the students on what can lead to a dismissal from the test or a cancellation of a test score.

I do not know if the supervisor and the proctors assigned for your son's testing room followed all procedures as required. They might not have. But taking the test from your son is apparently not always part of the required procedure. And other students should not have been in a position to view your son's test to see what he was or was not doing during the test. Finally, it generally would not be the school that invalidates the test and its score but rather ETS. ETS would determine, after a review of a submitted irregularity report and a review of the test and its score, that the test score would be cancelled.

It might be worthwhile for you to speak with a lawyer in your area who is experienced in education law but I am not seeing from what you have written that your son has much to support a legal action and there could be little hope of getting your son's test score cancellation reversed. Good luck.

 

[domesticmba33]

My son's reputation and ability to apply to college as an honor student

First, here is a link to the PSAT Supervisors Manual: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/supervisors-manual-psat-nmsqt.pdf

What I bolded above in your post is not necessarily correct. The tests are not always taken but instead the supervisor of the test will submit an "Irregularity Report" and the test that has spawned an irregularity report can be placed on top of all other tests for review by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

You can start on Page 11 of the Manual (linked above) for "Reporting Irregularities." Page 13 of the Manual has information on reporting individual irregularities, such as working on the wrong section of the test as your son was accused of doing. The correct procedure would have been to inform your son he was working on the wrong section and direct him to the correct section with a warning.

Page 16 of the Manual shows that the "script" followed by the supervisors includes information for the students on what can lead to a dismissal from the test or a cancellation of a test score.

I do not know if the supervisor and the proctors assigned for your son's testing room followed all procedures as required. They might not have. But taking the test from your son is apparently not always part of the required procedure. And other students should not have been in a position to view your son's test to see what he was or was not doing during the test. Finally, it generally would not be the school that invalidates the test and its score but rather ETS. ETS would determine, after a review of a submitted irregularity report and a review of the test and its score, that the test score would be cancelled.

It might be worthwhile for you to speak with a lawyer in your area who is experienced in education law but I am not seeing from what you have written that your son has much to support a legal action and there could be little hope of getting your son's test score cancellation reversed. Good luck.

Thank you very much for your thorough reply.

Because procedures were not followed, we received my son's test scores and then they were invalidated. His scores were not high enough for merit scholarships but consistent with other tests he's taken, which is another reason we believe he did not cheat. We don't want his test score cancellation reversed. We want the honor code violation removed. He cannot apply to National Honor Society. When he applies to the college of his choice, as an Honors Student, he will be asked to sign a pledge stating he will not break the honor code and if it is found that he has, he will be removed as an Honor Student and possibly removed from college. He is upset because he didn't cheat but if he pledges and finds out that he has a honor code violation in high school, he could be kicked out of the college. We are concerned he may not be able to apply to all scholarships. At meetings with the Dean, the Deans response is that they will not/can not remove the honor code violation because they must believe the teacher and they are a non-reporting school. They will not tell a college his violation. We told them our son says he didn't work in the wrong section. Would they change it to a behavioral violation to still support the teacher. The Dean said no.

Our son wanted us to get a lawyer from the beginning. He wants his honor back, his clear conscience, and he doesn't want this stress. We thought this couldn't happen if he was innocent and we thought the school would listen to us. Our son has been in high stress situations, such as a car accident and he did cheat on a test in 6th grade, and he has told us the truth. The test score was consistent with his previous benchmark and ACT test results. The teacher was on his phone during some parts of the test and mostly sitting at the table in the front of the room. The teacher never walked near my son. There were three other teachers in the room and none of them saw my son in the wrong section. The accusing teacher never pointed it out to the other teachers. My son was confronted three months later and after he received his results.

We are wondering if this violation will cause my son to loose Honor Student college privileges and possibly tens or thousands of dollars in college scholarships? He is a gifted student at a math and science high school but not in the top of his class.

 

[FlyingRon]

Your son appears to have been correct. As soon as this occurred you should have consulted with an attorney. The attorney could have helped you avail whatever due process is built into the school system rules and if not, advised the best way to proceed after that. Education law is a common specialty.

 

[quincy]

Thank you very much for your thorough reply.

Because procedures were not followed, we received my son's test scores and then they were invalidated. His scores were not high enough for merit scholarships but consistent with other tests he's taken, which is another reason we believe he did not cheat. We don't want his test score cancellation reversed. We want the honor code violation removed. He cannot apply to National Honor Society. When he applies to the college of his choice, as an Honors Student, he will be asked to sign a pledge stating he will not break the honor code and if it is found that he has, he will be removed as an Honor Student and possibly removed from college. He is upset because he didn't cheat but if he pledges and finds out that he has a honor code violation in high school, he could be kicked out of the college. We are concerned he may not be able to apply to all scholarships. At meetings with the Dean, the Deans response is that they will not/can not remove the honor code violation because they must believe the teacher and they are a non-reporting school. They will not tell a college his violation. We told them our son says he didn't work in the wrong section. Would they change it to a behavioral violation to still support the teacher. The Dean said no.

Our son wanted us to get a lawyer from the beginning. He wants his honor back, his clear conscience, and he doesn't want this stress. We thought this couldn't happen if he was innocent and we thought the school would listen to us. Our son has been in high stress situations, such as a car accident and he did cheat on a test in 6th grade, and he has told us the truth. The test score was consistent with his previous benchmark and ACT test results. The teacher was on his phone during some parts of the test and mostly sitting at the table in the front of the room. The teacher never walked near my son. There were three other teachers in the room and none of them saw my son in the wrong section. The accusing teacher never pointed it out to the other teachers. My son was confronted three months later and after he received his results.

We are wondering if this violation will cause my son to loose Honor Student college privileges and possibly tens or thousands of dollars in college scholarships? He is a gifted student at a math and science high school but not in the top of his class.

Thank you for explaining more fully what happened.

Because the teacher apparently did not follow the proper test procedure for reporting an irregularity on the day of the PSAT (and actually appears to have violated several of the testing procedures), it seems odd that the teacher would after-the-fact tell the Dean that your son violated the testing rules by working on the wrong section of the test. The teacher's report of your son to the Dean, which included a report of her failure to follow PSAT test procedures, seems to be as damning to her as it is to your son.

At the very least, the teacher on the day of the test should have pointed out the error to your son and warned him not to do it again, and should then have filled out an irregularity report for review by ETS. That she didn't do this should make her subject to disciplinary action. A report of the teacher to school administrators for having violated the testing procedures, the result of which has put your son in the position he finds himself in now, is something you should consider.

I understand the possible consequences for your son if the honor code violation remains in place and it is reported to colleges (although it appears the Dean has assured you the code violation will not be reported). Your son's PSAT score itself cannot be invalidated by the school, however. Only the PSAT educational service can invalidate test results and they do so only after a review of a reported irregularity with the test. If your son received his score, it does not appear that the score was invalidated.

Because it is difficult to judge your son's situation from afar, and because the position your son is in is a puzzling one, I think it can be worthwhile for you to go over all facts with a lawyer in your area, this if you fear the honor code violation will affect your son's ability to qualify for college scholarships, which it could.

Good luck.