SAT scandal shows tyranny of standardized testing - CNN.com

SAT scandal shows tyranny of standardized testing - CNN.com:

SAT scandal shows tyranny of standardized testing

By Nicolaus Mills, Special to CNN

updated 9:36 AM EST, Mon November 28, 2011

Samuel Eshaghoff of Great Neck, New York, is arrested in September for impersonating high school students to take the SAT.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• On Long Island, 20 students have been arrested for cheating on SAT
• The scandal reflects the tyranny of standardized testing, says Nicolaus Mills
• Standardized test scores have become overly important for college admission, Mills says
• Mills: Colleges must balance their use of tests with a more complex look at their applicants

Editor's note: Nicolaus Mills is professor of American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College and author of "Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower."

(CNN) -- As education scandals go, the news that students at some of the best high schools on Long Island paid others to take their College Board tests seems mild. The Long Island scandal pales behind the sex scandal at Penn State.

Yet the fears driving the Long Island scandal come with much broader educational implications than those affecting Penn State.