Teaching Matters: How much can we rely on standardized tests to assess?

“Education is helping the child realize his potentialities.” ~Erich Fromm (1900-1980), German social psychologist and pscychoanalyst   By Andrea Schmidt, Guest-writer    Standardized tests: how helpful are they in assessing one’s true skill level? This question has been asked by students and teachers alike, time and again. There is no denying that these tests’ formulaic...

Savvy Tips to Score Higher on the TOEFL iBT Speaking Section

What do you do with a problem like the TOEFL iBT test? For worse or for better, the TOEFL test remains the standard assessment of English for international students planning to attend American colleges and universities. As a result, many international ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) students often adopt the TOEFL test scores to self-assess their own ability in English too. Of course,...