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GMAT Scandal Concerns Test-Takers
July 31, 2008 07:01 AM
by
Josh Katz
An unauthorized Web site providing copyrighted GMAT questions has been shut down. The incident has raised questions about the ethical environment of business schools.
30-Second Summary
On June 20, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), which administers the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), successfully won a $2.3 million civil lawsuit against Lei Shi and others in charge of Scoretop.com. GMAC shut down the site and obtained its hard drive full of user information.
Scoretop.com provided VIP users with “live” copyrighted GMAT questions, without the permission of GMAC. Prospective MBA students could pay $30 a month to access the VIP service.
GMAC’s access to user information has caused a stir, as test-takers who used Scoretop.com wonder what the implications will be for them. Senior vice-president Peg Jöbst said GMAC will cancel the scores and notify the schools of those who were actively involved on the site.
GMAC was concerned with cheating prior to the Scoretop.com scandal. The organization has sought to crack down on “proxy” test takers and in the fall it will implement infrared “palm vein” scans.
In addition, last year 4 MBA students from Duke University business school were punished for cheating. Around the same time, a “study of 54 universities found 56 percent of graduate business students admitted” to cheating, “more than in other professional schools in the survey,” according to The Christian Science Monitor.
Such instances have generated concern over the ethics being taught at business schools. According to The Wall Street Journal, Professor Donald L. McCabe of Rutgers University says business school students notoriously cheat more, and the students “cite instances of corporations' ‘bottom-line mentality’ and ethical lapses to justify their own dishonesty.”
Scoretop.com provided VIP users with “live” copyrighted GMAT questions, without the permission of GMAC. Prospective MBA students could pay $30 a month to access the VIP service.
GMAC’s access to user information has caused a stir, as test-takers who used Scoretop.com wonder what the implications will be for them. Senior vice-president Peg Jöbst said GMAC will cancel the scores and notify the schools of those who were actively involved on the site.
GMAC was concerned with cheating prior to the Scoretop.com scandal. The organization has sought to crack down on “proxy” test takers and in the fall it will implement infrared “palm vein” scans.
In addition, last year 4 MBA students from Duke University business school were punished for cheating. Around the same time, a “study of 54 universities found 56 percent of graduate business students admitted” to cheating, “more than in other professional schools in the survey,” according to The Christian Science Monitor.
Such instances have generated concern over the ethics being taught at business schools. According to The Wall Street Journal, Professor Donald L. McCabe of Rutgers University says business school students notoriously cheat more, and the students “cite instances of corporations' ‘bottom-line mentality’ and ethical lapses to justify their own dishonesty.”
Headline Link: ‘Grilling GMAC on the GMAT Cheating Scandal’
BusinessWeek spoke with the senior vice-president of GMAC, Peg Jöbst, about the implications of the GMAT/Scoretop.com affair. She also answered questions that concerned future business school students might have during a live chat. According to Jöbst, “GMAC is limiting its investigation to those individuals who a) posted GMAT questions they saw on their GMAT exam, and b) posted a message on Scoretop confirming that they saw items from the Scoretop Web site on their GMAT exam.” Jöbst concluded her chat with a statement: “The field that MBA aspirants run through is fraught with land mines. Caveat tester.”
Source: BusinessWeek
Background: ‘GMAC and FBI expose test cheats’
In June, GMAC won $2.3m in damages in a civil case against Lei Shi, founder of Scoretop.com, for publishing “live” GMAT questions on te Web site and making them available to aspiring MBA students for a fee. The Chinese national Lei Shi fled the United States and the FBI is still considering the possibility of seeking criminal charges.
Source: Financial Times (subscription may be required)
Opinion & Analysis: Punishment for users; the state of business school testing
BusinessWeek features a pro and con debate over whether those who viewed the live GMAT questions should be punished. “Invalidating the scores of everyone who saw the questions before the test, while making sure to not ruin the B-school dreams (or reputations) of unintentional cheaters, is the only way to ensure fairness—and find the most qualified applicants,” says Jacob Stokes. But Trent Allen contends, “I believe there is very little difference between a Web site like Scoretop and a study book given out by MBA.com.”
Source: BusinessWeek
The Economist reflects on the state of testing for higher education in general, suggesting that in the wake of the Scoretop scandal, it might be a good time to consider a broader overhaul of the business school testing process. The magazine suggests a question that could be included on any practical element of a revised test: “What steps could the educational testing industry take to ensure the integrity of all of its members without reducing competition? Discuss.”
Source: The Economist
Related Topics: Security methods and cheating; standardized test scandals
Business schools and cheating
New palm vein scanning technology will be available for some test takers in the United States beginning in September, and it should be used before all GMAT tests by next May. Japanese ATMs have already used the technology for more than five years. Palm vein scans are more accurate than fingerprint tests and more difficult to counterfeit.
Source: Discovery News
Prospective business students looking to take the GMAT in the fall may encounter a new device meant to assure the test takers identity. “Palm vein” scans will take an infrared picture of the test takers unique pattern of palm veins to prevent the practice of “proxy” test taking where high scorers are paid to take the test. Finger printing methods have been implemented for the MCAT and LSAT, while the GRE and SAT only require IDs.
Source: The Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required)
On May 4, 2007, a Christian Science Monitor op-ed analyzed an incident where Duke University business school, “a university known for its honor code and ethics training,” reported a spate of cheating. Ten percent of the 2008 class was caught cheating that spring. The article also cites a study indicating that 56 percent of business school students said they had cheated at one point, as “Enron-style scandals have pushed B-schools to look at what they teach and at student behavior – and how those may lead to misconduct in the workplace.”
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Notable standardized testing messes
In March 2006, a year after the new SAT format was unveiled, 4,000 tests were scored incorrectly. The discovery came during the peak of the admissions season, forcing college officials to take the revised scores into account.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
On June 22, 1989 The New York Times reported on a scandal involving the state’s Regents chemistry test, in which the New York Post printed the test answers on its front page the day of the exam. The Post easily obtained the answers, which were being widely circulated throughout the state. The chemistry test was canceled and rescheduled for August 17.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
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