College Placement Tests : Makeup Exams Could Put Students in a Bind

A national testing organization that invalidated college placement examinations taken by 79 students at a Glendale high school has postponed the makeup exams until September.

The delay in readministering the Advanced Placement Examinations means that 13 of the Crescenta Valley High School students who paid to take the tests will be enrolled in college for months before they get their scores, officials at Educational Testing Service (ETS) said.

The exams were invalidated by the organization after Glendale Unified School District officials discovered that seven students cheated on the tests.

The exams were originally scheduled to be readministered this month, but an ETS spokesman said so many students and parents complained about scheduling the tests during the summer that officials at the organization decided Tuesday to postpone the exams. Parents and students said the Aug. 21-23 dates interfered with vacation plans and made it difficult for students to study for the exams.

ETS officials said they invalidated the scores of all 79 students who took the exams because an investigation by the organization found that high school officials failed to properly monitor students taking the tests.

All students seeking college credit for university-level courses taken at the high school in biology, history and English composition are required to retake the tests, testing service officials said.

$57 Paid for Each Test

The tests measure students’ skills in college-level courses. Students pay $57 to take each of the examinations. If a student does well on an exam, most colleges will exempt him or her from the introductory college course in that area.

“There will be some problems with the seniors. We’re cutting the wire obviously,” said Ray Nicosia, an ETS spokesman. “They’re in a tight turn-around time.”

Nicosia said the testing organization has agreed to pay the costs of readministering the tests and has offered to send letters to students’ colleges explaining the reason for the delay.