New on the official TOEFL blog is an article called “Inside the TOEFL iBT Updates: Validity by Design.” It explores some of the thinking that went into the recent TOEFL relaunch. Like some other recent missives from ETS it seeks to justify the inclusion of some shorter speaking and writing tasks. It’s all useful stuff if you want to know more about the new TOEFL, so check the comments on this item for a link.
It’s mildly frustrating that this content is buried on a blog full of posts about Tina’s low-fi study beats and “8 Tips to Prepare for Life at University.” As I’ve said here before, test makers need a channel where they can share a steady drip of meaningful articles that explore the thinking behind their products. IELTS does this with its “news and insights” page and Duolingo does this with the “Duolingo Test Center” blog. They do a good job of keeping the meaningful content away from the fluff and the SEOified junk.
The audience for such a channel isn’t huge, but it does include a great number of people that test makers need to influence. And, needless to say, LinkedIn isn’t the place to reach such folks.