So, to learn how ETS converts between new and old TOEFL scores, you can consult their website. You will see, for instance, that a score of 5.0 on the new TOEFL equals 95+ on the old TOEFL. But that’s not exactly how the scores actually get converted on the score reports given to students. I’ve looked at dozens of TOEFL score reports since the new test launched in January. Here’s how they convert new 1-6 scores to the old 1-120 scale:
- 6.0 = 118 of 120
- 5.5 = 110 of 120
- 5.0 = 100 of 120
- 4.5 = 90 of 120
- 4.0 = 80 of 120
- 3.5 = 65 of 120
(I haven’t seen anything lower than 3.5)
And this is it. No other numbers are possible. Everyone who earns 5.0 on the new TOEFL gets 100 on the old scale. Everyone who gets 5.5 on the new TOEFL gets 110. No one ever gets 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, etc.
And no matter how you earn a particular new scale score, it gets converted to the same old scale score.
Just remember that due to rounding, the following is true:
- Section scores of 4.5 + 4.5 + 5.0 + 5.0 = an overall new score of 5.0 = an old score of 100
- Section scores of 4.5 + 5.0 + 5.0 + 5.0 = an overall new score of 5.0 = an old score of 100
- Section scores of 5.0 + 5.0 + 5.0 + 5.0 = an overall new score of 5.0 = an old score of 100
- Section scores of 5.5 + 5.0 + 5.0 + 5.0 = an overall new score of 5.0 = an old score of 100
In every case, the overall score of 5.0 gets converted to an old score of 110 overall, even though the English ability of the test taker is slightly different in each case.
This is only mildly interesting. It becomes slightly more interesting when we look at how schools might use the 1-6 cut scores that have been recommended by ETS.
An institution that previously required a score of 100 points might use the aforementioned score conversion charts and set a new score requirement of 5.0.
It is likely that a greater range of students will be able to meet that new score requirement than could meet the old one. Indeed, the conversion charts suggest that anyone who previously scored between 95 and 106 points would be capable of meeting this target.
But that’s not all. Look at the first score line I provided above (4.5, 4.5, 5.0 and 5.0). The section score conversion charts provided by ETS suggest that a student who would score only 90 points on the old test could achieve that first score line. Thus, the school which previously maintained a firm 100-point cut score is now accepting students that would have previously scored 90 points and above.
Maybe this is still just mildly interesting.
But is it meaningful? Maybe. Though a few caveats come to mind:
- ETS hasn’t published any research in support of the score conversion tables. Accordingly, it could be wrongheaded of me to use them in such a precise way.
- My friends at Cambridge might point out that it is a bad idea to compare scores from the new TOEFL and the old TOEFL at all since they are very different tests. For this reason, it could be totally wrong to assume that a student who scored 100 on the old test would get any particular score at all on the new test.
Anyway…
Language requirements can be tightened up by maintaining both overall and section cut scores. But for the most part, American schools don’t do this. I googled the first ten schools that popped into my mind, and only Brigham Young University had section cut scores listed online.
In any case, given that TOEFL is still widely used, schools might be advised to carry out some longitudinal studies of students who submit TOEFL scores (and adjust reqs accordingly).
Interestingly (and not just in a mild way) this could greatly reduce the amount of re-testing done by TOEFL test takers. This is quite fun, given ongoing speculation about how financial motivations partially inspired the TOEFL revamp.