Testing and Placement Guidelines
No TOEFLiBt or TOEFLiBt below 68: International students without TOEFLiBt scores or with TOEFLiBt scores below 68 will receive a letter from CTC stating they must arrive at school earlier than other students. This is necessary because they are required to take the English for Students of Other Languages Skills Assessment (ESA) at this time. This test will determine if students need DSLA courses, if they need more advanced programs (non-transferable credit), or if they are ready to begin regular academic courses (transferable credit). The test will also determine which ESOL courses are appropriate for each student.
The early testing is extremely important because it generally saves students time and money. Unlike other schools which require students to complete all courses of an English language program before taking academic courses, CTC identifies student language areas needing improvement, and requires only those courses needed to improve necessary language skills. If students demonstrate through testing that they don't need specific English language courses, they are allowed to skip those courses and go on to more advanced ones. It's possible, therefore, for a student to:
- take DSLA classes from different levels at the same time
- take some DSLA courses and some regular academic courses at the same time
- demonstrate ESOL mastery and skip DSLA entirely
Also, when students successfully complete all ESOL courses, they are eligible to move into more advanced non-transferable credit courses and may be eligible to move into regular academic courses after their TSI scores are evaluated.
TOEFLiBt 68+: Students who enter with a TOEFLiBt score of 68 or more do not need to take ESOL courses or participate in an English language assessment. They must, however, follow the same placement procedures as all other American students and take the TSI test. This is a test of general skills in reading, writing, and math. It will determine if other non-transferable credit courses (at a higher level than ESOL) are needed before taking academic courses.
