New placement system helps college cope with incredible growth

It's the dream of most Intensive English Programs to expand, but rapid change can overwhelm a program's placement system. The English Language Institute at Seneca College in Toronto, which has grown from 50 students to over 900 students since its inception 10 years ago, is one such program. "With dramatic growth, placement testing was becoming a nightmare," says Director Martine Allard.

Until last year, Seneca used an in-house system - an interview, writing sample and grammar test - to place students in the college's eight levels. "When we had to place 50 students per intake, our in-house placement test worked well," Allard says. "With weighted grammar, speaking and writing components, our placement test was accurate and easy to administer."

As enrolments grew, the college found that staff became overwhelmed by the placement system. "When we started getting 100 to 150 students per intake, we lost accuracy, efficiency and patience," Allard says. The college expected to reach 200 new students per session and staff quickly realized that it would be impossible to test such large numbers using the existing method. Seneca also wanted to obtain advance information about students by testing them abroad, which was not easy with the in-house test.

"Of all the tests we looked at the TOEIC test best solved our problems," Allard says. "It is easy to administer, it is objective and it can be administered abroad. Best of all, there is more cohesion in the levels now. With the TOEIC test, we were also able to easily fine-tune our levels, making each level slightly higher than before. "

Test security was also a concern. Administrators were worried about students trying to find out the answers in order to be placed at a higher level. The TOEIC test offered greater security, including a number of test versions so that students would not become familiar with the questions.

Seneca began using the TOEIC test for placement purposes in spring 2001. Seneca staff administers the test and couriers the answer sheets overnight to TOEIC Services. The tests are scored and the results are emailed or faxed to Seneca - enabling staff to place students in the appropriate level the day after they have taken the TOEIC test.

The English Language Institute was founded to respond to the need for full-time intensive ESL training to prepare international students for Seneca's academic programs. From the outset, the institute worked directly with the college to ensure that students leaving the ESL program would be academically successful.

The ELI has six intakes per year in its eight-week course. In the eight-level program, Levels 6, 7 and 8 are "bridging" levels: students at these levels study ESL as well as a post-secondary subject for credit. By the time they graduate from Level 8, they have at least two post-secondary credits. Most importantly, the transition from ESL to academic programs is seamless and the student success rates at the college are increased significantly.

With its suitability for beginner through advanced candidates, the TOEIC test is well-matched to Seneca's wide-ranging student population. As well, since it is an official test, the TOEIC test quickly gained acceptance among students. Previously, many students challenged their levels, tying up administrators to deal with complaints about placement. Since the TOEIC test was implemented, the number of student challenges has dropped dramatically.

For Seneca College, growth has brought new opportunities and challenges. The TOEIC test has enabled Seneca to simplify and improve its placement system, allowing staff to focus on serving its international students.