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Committee approves spoken-English policy revisions to reflect new TOEFL speaking scale
Summary
The committee approved amendments aligning spoken-English eligibility with the revised TOEFL iBT speaking score and allowing previously earned scores to carry over; KU staff outlined remediation steps for graduate teaching assistants who do not meet the threshold.
The Academic Affairs Committee voted to forward proposed amendments to the KBOR spoken-English policy that align eligibility thresholds with a revised TOEFL iBT speaking score range.
Director Christy Dangermond summarized the change: the TOEFL iBT speaking section scoring range was revised earlier in the month from a 1'to'30 scale to a 1'to'6 scale. KU and Applied English Center staff recommended a new passing threshold of 4.5 on the new scale, which they said is roughly equivalent to a 23 on the old scale. Dangermond said the update also preserves older scores taken before Jan. 21 for two years to avoid requiring retesting.
Regents asked about remediation and the practical effects on teaching appointments. Roberta Popon of KU explained that graduate teaching assistants who do not meet the spoken-English threshold may take applied-English coursework through the Applied English Center and are not permitted to serve as graduate teaching assistants until they meet the requirement; they may, however, work in other roles such as research assistantships while they complete remediation.
The committee approved the policy revisions and will forward them to the full board for action.
