Category: iTEP

I Took the iTEP Academic Test!

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

I took the iTEP academic test (at-home version) a few days ago.  I’ll paste in a few notes here while my memories are fresh. I’ll share my score report below.   Let me know if you have any questions.  And if you are a student prepping for this test and stumble upon my blog post, let me know if you need any help getting ready!

Here goes:

  1. Registration and login is mostly quick and painless.  The only hiccup is that the onboarding process at the beginning of the test retains instructions that seem to be designed for the test-center version.  The at-home TOEFL has the same problem, and I’ve written about it a few times.
  2. iTEP doesn’t utilize live proctors. Proctoring is async, like in the Duolingo English Test. As I’ve written before, it is really nice to start a test without the rigmarole of a room scan and live proctor.  Readers who don’t regularly take tests have no idea what a pain in the butt it is to set up for a room scan and proctor interaction.  In my case, I have to drag a heavy desk across my apartment and dig some musty sheets out of my linen closet to drape over an equally musty bookcase.  One day, all proctoring will be async.
  3. The test takes about 80 minutes to complete. Cost is $141.
  4. iTEP doesn’t provide much free prep.  They sell a self-guided course for $59 and partially scored practice tests for $15 a pop.  There is a free practice test that covers some (but not all) of the test’s content.
  5. The iTEP contains mostly “academic” content.  The reading and listening sections include some really tough questions, similar to the current version of the TOEFL iBT. Among other things, test takers will grapple with one long article (maybe 600 words) and one long lecture (about six minutes).  As my score report indicates, I missed some abstract questions about rhetorical purpose.  Just like when I take the TOEFL.
  6. The test also includes multiple choice grammar questions. You don’t see that sort of thing too often in high stakes testing nowadays. I was surprised to see them here.
  7. There are two writing tasks: a ~100 word email and a ~250 word essay.  Maximum word counts are enforced.
  8. There isn’t much speaking here. Just a 45-second personal opinion question and a 60-second academic opinion question. The test should probably include more speaking. Perhaps there is an opportunity for the iTEP team to include integrated speaking tasks.
  9. The test includes an innovative note-taking system. Test-takers type their notes into a box that appears within the test’s UI. This is much easier than using a whiteboard, or scribbling on a piece of scrap paper. And I think it more closely resembles what students do at school, as well. I really liked it.
  10. My score was reported in three days. The score report was surprisingly detailed.  Test takers may appreciate the level of detail, as it could provide hints about what they may wish to focus on in the future. I was also surprised to get access to my speaking and writing responses. I would love for more tests to include this sort of feature.

 

 

Inappropriate Proctors and the Future of Remote Testing

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

I read a report today from a test taker who has alleged that the proctor of her at-home test used her personal information to find her Instagram account. He then, allegedly, sent inappropriate DMs.  This sort of allegation is more common than you might think.

I’ve never liked live human proctoring, but I have begrudgingly tolerated it. In cases where it absolutely must be maintained I’ve advocated for an in-house system.  One of the many benefits of this approach is that it gives test makers more control over who can access the personal information of test takers.

That said, if your formula for “in-house” is (proprietary tech) + (a whole bunch of dudes brought in by an outsourcing company) you might as well just stick with one of the big proctoring firms. They’ll probably do a better job.

In any case, the days of live proctoring (in-house or otherwise) are likely numbered. It seems obvious to me that asynchronous proctoring (AI-based security during the test combined with a human review after the test) is the future of at-home testing.  This is Duolingo’s current approach.  ITEP uses it too.  It appears that Pearson will follow suit when they launch their new “Pearson English Express” Test later this year.  I assume that many other test makers are currently trying to figure out how to implement their own async systems.  A decade from now, I don’t think any at-home English tests will utilize live proctors.

How much security is being provided by someone who is simultaneously watching a dozen tests?  Could the same level of security be provided by someone who checks after the test?

Some test makers might protest that their customers prefer to have help with the check-in process.  That may be true if your check-in process is clunky with cumbersome elements.  But those elements can be ironed out of the process.

I’ve taken quite a lot of at-home tests over the years.  I’m always happy when I can take a test without a live proctor, as the process is much more comfortable that doing so with a proctor.  Indeed, I took the ITEP today and the process was pure bliss.

Test makers who eat their own dogfood and, uh, other people’s dogfood know this already.

The incident I mentioned above is bad enough, but a few other stories I’ve heard over the past few years come to mind.  Like:

  1. Proctors insisting that test takers click the “cancel test” button after they have finished the test, causing the results to be cancelled.
  2. Proctors working from public transit.
  3. Proctors extending a room scan to the hallways outside of a test taker’s flat.  And even insisting on a peek inside their building’s elevator.
  4. Proctors mistakenly allowing rules to be broken, resulting in score cancellations.
  5. Proctors forgetting to turn their microphones off. To hilarious effect.

I could continue, but I think you get my point.

Interview, re: iTEP

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

Here’s a great interview with iTEP International CEO Todd Maurer conducted by Cathoven AI. It explores the history of the company, its English tests (high stakes and otherwise) and some of the innovations they’ve brought to market. Without really being a household name, over the past few decades iTEP has carved out a niche for itself and formed some meaningful partnerships with academic institutions.

It is worth remembering that iTEP were the first to introduce certain features that were later adopted by better known testing firms.

I chuckled when Todd said that “the TOEFL test, for a long time, was three hours.” That’s funny because the TOEFL was actually four and a half hours long.

One of my goals for 2025 is to learn more about the iTEP products. I will take the iTEP Academic this week, I hope.

iTEP Newsletter

Posted on by TOEFL Resources

iTEP International has just launched a quarterly newsletter.  You can read the newsletter and subscribe to keep on top of what the folks at iTEP are up to.  The iTEP is a test I hope to learn more about this year.  The team over there has been doing their thing for a couple of decades and have amassed a decent number of accepting institutions and partners over the years.  I even stumbled upon one of their test center partners in Seoul last year.