Letters to the Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Using the TOEFL at NTID/RIT This letter is in response to the recent article by Larry J. LoMaglio that appeared in the American Annals of the Deaf (Vol. 136, pp. 261-264) pertinent to using the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) as part of the admissions process for international applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (NTTD/RIT). We believe that further clarification is necessary regarding several of the points and concerns raised by Mr. LoMaglio. • First, the NTTD Admission Standards Committee recommendation pertinent to a TOEFL score of 400-425 for international students was based on administering the TOEFL to entering NTID freshman students (.N=MO in 1989 and iV=300 in 1990). This data based approach to recommending admission guidelines for international students at NTTD/RIT is important for the following reasons: — to assure that admission standards for international students are comparable to those for American citizens; — to eliminate the possibility of a double standard (i.e., international students should not be provided easier access to admission than American citizens); — to increase the probability that international students admitted to NTID/RIT could successfully deal with the existing curriculum without extensive remediation. • Second, while the recommendation of TOEFL scores in the range of 400-425 was indeed based on completing only two of the three test sections (omitting the listening comprehension task), there is a compensatory weighting factor for the omitted section used in calculating the score for all of our international applicants. This weighting factor amounts to an additional 76-80 points included in the total score. • Third, Mr. LoMaglio has based his critique of NTTD/RIT admission standards for international students on data collected from 41 hearing foreign students at SUNY Buffalo and only considered performance data on the TOEFL and the reading comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Tests. We are puzzled as to why he believes such data are more applicable to recommending equitable admission standards for deaf international students at NTID/RIT than the data collected on a sample of 470 entering freshmen who are deaf and hard of hearing in which their TOEFL scores were analyzed in relation to scores on both the reading comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Tests and the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency. • Fourth, although the TOEFL is an initial screening tool for admission (it is the most secure standardized test of its kind available worldwide to our knowledge), all students admitted to NTTD/RIT receive extensive placement testing in English language skills, speech perception and production, and sign communication. However, NTID/RIT is not now, nor will it ever be, in a position to offer such placement testing on a worldwide basis for the purpose of admission. • Fifth, NTID/RIT, like all other institutions of higher education, is responsible for establishing admission standards specific to its own mission and related curriculum . Therefore, the NTID Admission Standards Committee's only charge was to make recommendations for admission standards that were fair and equitable to all NTID/RIT students and to assure that a double standard was not created. • Finally, there is an inaccuracy in Mr. LoMaglio's presentation of data (p. 262, Table 1; 70% should be 25%). For the above reasons, we believe clarification of Mr. LoMaglio's article was needed to more appropriately represent the recommended admission guidelines for international students at NTID/RIT. Ronald R. Kelly Assistant Dean and Director Division of Communication Programs NTID Joseph H. Bochner Associate Professor Chair, NTID Admissions Standards Commission NTID AAD Vol. 137, No. 1 On Reply to Kelly and Bochner) I thank the Annals for affording me the opportunity to respond to my colleagues' concerns pertinent to using the TOEFL as part of the admissions process for deaf international applicants to NTID/RIT. First, the current NTID English language admission standard for international students is not comparable to that for American citizens and permanent residents, who are required to demonstrate skills in reading and mathematics that average 8.0 grade proficiency. However, in 1990 KTlD decided that all international students would have to demonstrate an eighth-grade English reading level per se...