When Junior Noah Kupritz sits down at the computer to register for the ACT, he’ll also have to log in to his Facebook page, owing to recent changes to the registration process for the standardized test.
The new policy, which started on the last ACT exam date, Oct. 23, stipulates that students must upload a photo showing their head and shoulders, that will must be printed on their admission ticket in order to be admitted to the test. The printed photo must be shown to testing facility staff in addition to a valid form of photo identification, including a driver’s licence or school ID.
Kupritz, who has yet to take the ACT, said while he agrees with the goal of the policy to eliminate testing impersonation and ensure accurate score reporting, he worries about the unintended consequences of the change.
“Safety is important but this could negatively impact students who don’t have computer access or photos to use,” he said. “This could put up another barrier for people who already have a hard time registering for the ACT.”
To compensate for issues of computer access, ACT policy allows students to mail in a photo with their registration, provided that photos are received with adequate time prior to the test date.
The additional registration requirements are intended to reduce testing dishonesty by students, however, senior Samantha Nyenhuis said her primary concern was about the behavior of teachers working at the testing facilities.
“Even though you were supposed to show photo ID on the exam day before, there were definitely loopholes,” Nyenhuis said. “When I was taking the ACT, I saw teachers at Edina who wouldn’t check everyone’s ID at the sign in just because they recognized a student or a student’s friend vouched for them.”
Administrators for the ACT are hoping that the new changes to the registration requirements will hope to deter these problematic behaviors in the future.
However, as senior Evan Hill said he sees it, the problem of tester impersonation might be too large to solve with such simple measures.
“Anyone who is paying for someone else to cheat on the ACT for them is obviously going to have access to fake photo ID’s,” he said. “Students should have to bring in school documentation like a yearbook to make this work. If they really want to combat this issue they’re going to need to overhaul their system, or else accept that unfortunately, some people will cheat.”
