"The payoff for cheating, whether it's cheating on a college SAT test or cheating on your wife or cheating in athletic competition, is you'll win and get all the proceeds and accolades that go with the championship, " Walsh said.

CNN: Cheating arises from desires, incentives, pressures

Cheating rates rise through middle school and by high school, 51% of students admit to cheating on a test in the past year, and 74% say they have copied another student's homework, according to a 2012 survey of 23, 000 high-school students by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, in Los Angeles, a nonprofit character-education organization.

WSJ: By SUE SHELLENBARGER

Two years ago, she investigated a cheating ring on the SAT that led to tougher identification requirements for test takers.

WSJ: Cheating Claims Rock Long Island

Concern over teachers cheating on behalf of students has grown as states increasingly use students' test scores to grade teachers and close schools.

WSJ: Cheating Claims Rock Long Island

Cheating is rare on expensive tests such as the SATs, ACTs, APs and NAEP because test-givers and their contractors spend what it takes to have their sessions proctored, their test booklets kept secure before and after their administration, and the scoring done by individuals or machines in distant locations that are unaffected by the results of that scoring.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

As we learned from the Atlanta cheating scandal, such administrative discretion is a recipe for fraud, especially when paychecks and career advancement are riding on the test results.

FORBES: Are New York City Students Getting Smarter Or Are Regents Exams Getting Easier?