The High-Stakes Hustle: Technology and the Testing Trap
I remember being stressed before a final exam; I imagine everyone has felt that way at some point. You know it’s worth 15 or 20 percent of your grade, and you want to do well because it will affect your average and determine which universities might accept you. It was nerve-racking. But after moving to Japan and seeing what high-stakes tests really look like, I feel grateful that I never had to sit for one. Well, not yet, anyway.
Schmidgall and Powers (2017) explored the various ways technology is changing the nature of these high-stakes standardized tests. Computer-based tests (CBT) and internet-based tests (iBT) are improving access to standardized testing, allowing people from all over the world to reach the same benchmarks. This is giving rural and isolated communities access to opportunities that would have been impossible before. However, moving the test outside of a controlled center creates new security and integrity challenges that require even more technology to overcome.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the chapter was the "cycle of cheating." The greater the impact a test has on a person’s life, the higher the motivation to find a way to cheat. Finding new and effective ways to circumvent the system has become a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise. Syndicates of organized cheaters work together to collect test data and bypass security measures. Just last year, an organized cheating ring was caught helping people pass the TOEIC test in Japan. Over 800 test scores were invalidated, and several graduate students had their acceptances revoked from Waseda University (Japan Forward, 2026). These stories become national news, damaging reputations and throwing the integrity of the entire system into question.
Why are these tests so prized? What do they show an admissions committee that they can’t find out from a student’s class grades or an interview? As a Canadian who entered university based on the weight of my final year’s grades, I appreciate that my future was in the hands of teachers who actually knew me, rather than a single test that could derail my entire life.
As an English instructor, I see the toll these tests take on my students every day. They are studying for a score, not for the value the English language could actually bring to their lives.
Japan Forward. (2026, January 21). Waseda and other schools revoke admissions over test cheating. https://japan-forward.com/waseda-and-other-schools-revoke-admissions-over-test-cheating/
Schmidgall, J. E., & Powers, D. E. (2017). Technology and High-stakes Language Testing. In C. A. Chapelle & S. Sauro (Eds.), The handbook of technology and second language teaching and learning (pp. 317–331). Wiley.
