Florida high school student accused of cheating on the SAT abandons battle to validate her scores because of 'emotionally traumatizing' media attention
- Attorneys for Kamilah Campbell and the College Board said in a joint statement on Thursday that the teen will no longer be fighting to have her scores validated
- She is now considering retaking the SAT a third time, the statement said
- The high school senior from Miami Gardens aspires to go to FSU to study dance
- Campbell made noise last month after SAT administrators held one of her scores
- She claimed it was because the score was well above her previous attempt
- The teen insisted her score improved from 900 to 1230 because she studied, hired tutors and took a prep course between the March and October tests
- She hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Clump to represent her
A Florida high school student accused of cheating on the SAT has abandoned her battle to validate her scores weeks after she hired a prominent civil rights attorney to represent her.
Kamilah Campbell made noise last month after administrators withheld one of her scores - a 1230 - on the standardized test and she claimed it was because that score was significantly higher than her first attempt, a 900.
However, the 18-year-old from Miami Gardens is now considering retaking the SAT for a third time, her attorneys and the College Board revealed in a joint statement to CNN on Thursday.
'The attention generated by Kamilah's case has been extremely stressful and emotionally traumatizing for her,' the statement from Ben Crump Law, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, and the College Board said.
'Rather than further challenging the score validity process, she is now interested in potentially retaking the SAT and continuing her path forward privately as she pursues her college goals.'
Kamilah Campbell, who was accused of cheating on the SAT after drastically improving her scores from her first test to her second, has decided to end her fight to have the scores validated, according to a joint statement from her attorneys and College Board on Thursday
Campbell hired prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to represent her after the Educational Testing Service, which facilitates the test, withheld her scores because there was 'substantial evidence' that they were invalid. Pictured: Crump (center) speaks on Campbell's behalf during a press conference on January 3
Video courtesy of WPLG Local 10
Campbell first took the SAT in March of last year and earned a composite score of 900.
The high school senior - who has a 3.1 GPA and aspires to go to Florida State University to study dance - ultimately decided she needed to do better.
After studying, hiring tutors and taking a free online SAT prep program, Campbell retook the test in October and scored a composite 1230.
However, her excitement was short lived.
The Educational Testing Service, which facilitates the test, sent a letter to Campbell claiming that there was 'substantial evidence' that the scores were invalid.
'Our preliminary concerns are based on substantial agreement between your answers on one or more scored sections of the test and those of other test takers,' they added, CNN reports.
'The anomalies noted above raise concerns about the validity of your scores.'
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Campbell insisted that she had improved her composite score from 900 to 1230 by studying, hiring tutors and taking a free online prep class. After receiving the letter about her second scores being withheld, the teen said: 'They tell you that you need to practice and work and study to do better but then when you do better they question it'
Campbell claimed that she couldn't apply to the school of her dreams, Florida State University (above), because the testing service wouldn't release her score from the October exam
The teen said in response: 'They tell you that you need to practice and work and study to do better but then when you do better they question it.'
'[My score] improved for over 300 points, so they're saying I improved basically too much and that's skeptical for them,' Campbell said.
'They are not looking at it as if, "Maybe she focused and dedicated herself to passing this test."'
Campbell claimed that she couldn't apply to the school of her dreams, Florida State University, as a result of her scores being held. She missed the deadline to apply for SAT score-based scholarships as well.
According to Prep Scholar, the average SAT score at the university is a 1260.
The school technically has a February 1 deadline.
After Campbell defended her second scores and the effort she put in to achieve them, alums from FSU rallied behind the teen and tapped Crump (above) to represent her
'She stayed up late nights, she stayed up early mornings, studying. She received extra tutoring because she set a goal in her head she wanted to reach and she accomplished that goal. She deserves to be honored,' the student's mother, Shirley Campbell, explained to WPLG 10.
Alums from FSU rallied behind Campbell and tapped Ben Crump, a prominent lawyer and graduate from the school, to represent the young woman.
At a January 2 press conference, Crump vowed to ensure that his client could get her scores from the College Board in time to apply for the Florida State dance program, declaring that the company had two weeks to respond.
The College Board, which develops the test, and the Educational Testing Service, the test administrator, responded by saying that Campbell's second score was being investigated because her answers were similar to those of other test takers.
The company said scores are never flagged based solely on gains from previous test results.
A spokesman for College Board, Zachary Goldberg, said Campbell and her lawyer would be taking part in a 'consistent, established procedure to assess the validity of scores.
He added that they would have 'the opportunity to provide relevant information, which is used to help make determinations about the validity of the test scores following a complete investigation'.
Neither Crump nor Campbell had publicly commented about the case since the press conference until Thursday's joint statement.
The College Board, which develops the SAT, and the Educational Testing Service, the test administrator, said Campbell's second scores were being investigated because her answers were similar to those of other test takers (file photo)
- Kamilah Campbell: Florida student fights back after 300-point improvement in SAT score deemed invalid - CBS News
- Florida girl had her SAT result flagged. She says she didn't cheat and hires famous lawyer. - CNN
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