Cheating Scandal Triggering TJ Change

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - be honest and do not mislead people. None of this is happening for the benefit of Black and Hispanic students. This was very clear from the PPT shared at the school board meeting. The projected number of Black and Hispanic students under the new model is still in the single digits. So your theory of "others like them" is flawed. The group where the model showed the most drastic increase were whites. OK? Whites. That's the group driving the process. That's the group that feels slighted by the prevalence of Asians at TJ. Not Blacks and Hispanics.

That's just false. On that slide, modeling for the class of 2024, you saw whites increase from 18-25%, Blacks from 1-7% and Hispanic from 3-8%. And that's with a depressed applicant pool.

In other words, the plan is to decrease Asian students, who are diverse by themselves - Chinese. Koreans, Indians, Japanese all with different culture and values, all clubbed into one. Hopefully, not because one prep company may have cheated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing that some cheating scandal from outside the Beltway was the primary agitator in VDOE and FCPS crackdown on the change at TJ. Is this true? Can someone help with recounting what this scandal was that will ultimately lead to the demise of this school?

Figures. Some people are so obsessed with getting their child in. As if the test prep factories were not enough, they have to resort to cheating. Glad this is all being addressed so admissions can be more fair.

+1

Cheating isn’t new there.

Corrupt principals and parents exist inside the Beltway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

TJ students report having signed a pledge not to discuss the exam or its questions with anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

TJ students report having signed a pledge not to discuss the exam or its questions with anyone.

So nobody cheated. They potentially violated a non-enforceable "pledge".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

TJ students report having signed a pledge not to discuss the exam or its questions with anyone.

So nobody cheated. They potentially violated a non-enforceable "pledge".

And in so doing, made the exam pointless and probably contributed to what's happening right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

TJ students report having signed a pledge not to discuss the exam or its questions with anyone.

So nobody cheated. They potentially violated a non-enforceable "pledge".

I mean, you can call it whatever you want, cheating or whatever. I don't much care about that. But they did seriously compromise the integrity of the admissions process for future classes and created imbalances that likely left many students out of the semifinalist pool, given that performance on the Quant-Q is evaluated on a curve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did somehow people cheat to get into the school?

In a nutshell, one prep company prepped 28% of this years freshman. That’s 133 kids. It’s insane given how competing the prep company market is in NVa. Two years ago, they got 51 kids in and last year it was around 80. The company has been around for YEARS, so such a massive increase raises eyebrows. The company (foolishly) posted the lists of first and last names TJ admits to their FB page each year, so it’s easy to verify.

THEN, current TJ students started posting online on various social media that the company HAD A COPY of the test ahead of time. This test is supposed to be “unpreppable” but the company got students to report back what the questions were after the test. Then they used that to help the students taking the test on the accommodations day, summer round admissions and of course for the next years class. Apparently FCPS and the owners of the TJ admissions test have been watching the company for a while, so this was a good opportunity to do something. This prep company is making millions off of gaming the TJ admissions process.

Added on top of that the this prep company virtually ONLY preps students of one specific background. Added to that almost no Hispanic or black students were admitted and girls were sorely underrepresented as well. It just looks disgusting and simply cannot continue.

Our very own Varsity Blues-type scandal for FCPS. Awesome, thanks cheaters for creating a problem during a time when there are already plenty of problems.

Wow. How many kids were denied admission or waitlisted, that would have been admitted, if not for the cheaters having taken those spots? Couldn’t the County be sued?

Again, who was cheating? Are people who take SAT test prep "cheating"? This sounds like the same kind of activity.

The SAT is not secured, nor are almost any other standardized test you see. So no, it's not cheating to prep for it.

The Quant-Q is secured, so yes, it is cheating to use materials that are supposed to be secured to prepare for it.

So who got the "secured" materials? Unless the students who took the test are under an NDA, they are free to discuss the test with anyone.

TJ students report having signed a pledge not to discuss the exam or its questions with anyone.

So nobody cheated. They potentially violated a non-enforceable "pledge".

I mean, you can call it whatever you want, cheating or whatever. I don't much care about that. But they did seriously compromise the integrity of the admissions process for future classes and created imbalances that likely left many students out of the semifinalist pool, given that performance on the Quant-Q is evaluated on a curve.

They most certainly kept at the very least students that were on the TJ waitlist from being offered admission. (Especially if there was cheating during the summer round.) Those waitlist students were fully qualified, but not admitted.

[Anonymous]

My experience has been that - Whites may lack the cultural and domestic structure in place to do better than Asian-Americans - just as much as the disadvantaged minority. Especially during the pandemic this will be an added burden.

I also think Asian-Americans should insist on the results of the exams to be made public and sue if it is not so. Merit should count not race. Especially not for White students since economically and socially they are not disadvantaged like Blacks and Hispanics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that - Whites may lack the cultural and domestic structure in place to do better than Asian-Americans - just as much as the disadvantaged minority. Especially during the pandemic this will be an added burden.

I also think Asian-Americans should insist on the results of the exams to be made public and sue if it is not so. Merit should count not race. Especially not for White students since economically and socially they are not disadvantaged like Blacks and Hispanics.

You're totally not racist at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience has been that - Whites may lack the cultural and domestic structure in place to do better than Asian-Americans - just as much as the disadvantaged minority. Especially during the pandemic this will be an added burden.

I also think Asian-Americans should insist on the results of the exams to be made public and sue if it is not so. Merit should count not race. Especially not for White students since economically and socially they are not disadvantaged like Blacks and Hispanics.

You're totally not racist at all

Nope. Not racist. These changes are being done to benefit Whites. Not any other racial group.

[Anonymous]

One thing that AAP should do is change the exam questions every year as well as release the previous years tests for everyone to study. This is what College Board does. Can you imagine the same SAT being administered each year and each session?

How ridiculous is that?

This is the only change that should happen. Change the questions each year, stupid!!