Oral Language Assessment
As stated in Missouri statute 170.012 and University policy, every non-native speaker of English must have sufficient oral-English proficiency before taking on a teaching position. Teaching assistants who have no direct contact with students (e.g., responsible only for grading assignments) are not required to complete the language proficiency assessment.It is recommended that departments schedule assessments for candidates as soon as possible so appointment decisions can be made in a timely fashion. These assessments can be completed prior to enrollment, but after a student has been formally admitted, or postdoctoral scholar start date (e.g., during a campus visit, summer).
ITAP provides on-line assessment called the MACCS (Mizzou’s Assessment of Classroom Communication Skills.) To ensure a positive testing experience, a virtual orientation to the assessment is required. In addition, students will be given resources to prepare for the assessment and a practice test when they are enrolled for testing. If computer and internet access are limited, please contact ITAP.
The MACCS is given each month. In addition, ITAP will work with academic departments to expedite testing when necessary.
Students cannot register to take the MACCS directly. They should contact their DGS or departmental contact who will then register them. Please contact ITAPwith any questions.
Assessment results are given as a proficiency level from 1 to 4. A minimum of 2 is needed in order to qualify for a teaching-related role (roles vary based upon proficiency levels).
Students may receive a provisional score (e.g., 2.5, 3.5). Those with provisional scores must receive additional support during their first semester; this may include successfully completing an ITAP course. At the end of the semester, the score will be modified to reflect that the provision has been met.
To find out more about the responsibilities a student can take on with their current communication skills, please see the assessment result levels.
A candidate who does not receive the assessment results needed to accept a teaching appointment may not work in that teaching appointment and must wait four months before being reassessed. Students who enroll in an English language development course at Mizzou (see “Oral English Language Development” below), complete an individual development plan, or take an off-campus English language course can be reassessed at the end of the semester in which the language improvement work is completed.
Considerations Before Requesting a Review
Every MACCS assessment is evaluated by two or more trained raters. Two scores must be in close agreement before the final result is given. Therefore, requests for test score review should be reserved for exceptional cases and are limited to:
- a maximum of one request per academic unit each semester,
- only once for a particular graduate student candidate, and
- only graduate student candidates who are no more than one level from the department’s desired outcome.
How to Request a Review
A request for the review of a test score must come from a department director/chair or Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). Students may not make requests. The department/program representative must submit the ITAP Appeals Form within two weeks of receipt of the test score.
To make the appeal, the director/chair or DGS will submit the following via email to the ITAP Coordinator:
- An unedited 8 to 12-minute audio or video recording of the applicant teaching an undergraduate-level academic concept to a live audience either in a face-to-face or virtual classroom. The presentation should include in-depth explanations of concepts or ideas and responses to spontaneous questions from the class. The department is expected to facilitate the presentation including providing an appropriate audience, location, and technology,
- The completed appeal form, and
- Two letters of support, no more than pages in length, from MU faculty who have reviewed the presentation. The letters should describe how the recording demonstrates the applicant’s abilities to independently develop ideas; set up and support logical arguments; and convey detailed arguments clearly, logically, and with appropriate register. They should include examples from both prepared and spontaneous speech.
Appeal Process
The ITAP Coordinator, Dean of the Graduate School, or their designee will forward the appeal request to the ITAP Appeals Committee to review the appeals request, video artifact and the evaluator’s comments taken from the original MACCS assessment and they will meet to finalize their decision. The committee may either choose to:
- to deny the appeal,
- to grant an early MACCS retest, or
- use the artifact as an alternative assessment and assign an ITAP level to it.
Appeals Committee
The Appeals Committee is an ad-hoc committee of faculty serving on Graduate Faculty Senate. Faculty from the student’s department may not serve on the Appeals Committee. Likewise, faculty who know the student may not serve on the Committee. The charge of the Appeals Committee is to review each ITAP Assessment Appeal Request and make a determination as noted above.
Once the Appeals Committee receives the materials for review, they will have 15 business days to make a determination. The department/program will be notified as soon as possible after a determination is made.
Assessment Alternatives for Students
(1) TOEFL iBT or IELTS speaking scores less than 2 years old can be substituted for a language assessment.
| TOEFL (IELTS) Speaking Score | ITAP Proficiency Level | TA/GI Responsibilities | ITAP Course Recommended |
| 28-30 (8.5, 9) | 4 | Graduate Instructor | N/A |
| 26-27 (8.0) | 3 | Recitation, Discussion, or Advanced Lab Leader | GRAD 8300 |
| 24-25 (7.5) | 2 | Laboratory Assistant | GRAD 8200 |
| 23 (7.0) | 1.5 | Laboratory Assistant | GRAD 8100 |
The department needs to contact ITAP about the student to be exempted and ITAP will confirm their scores through MyZou. Please note: this is an exemption of the language assessment only; it does not exempt an incoming student with a teaching assistantship or graduate instructor responsibilities from participating in the required orientation.
(2) This path is designed for TAs who have already taught at ITAP Language Level 3 in an undergraduate, for-credit class for an entire semester (in roles such as leading recitations, discussion sections, or studio classes) and whose program or department is seeking Level 4 status for the TA to teach independently as a Graduate Instructor. The goal of this path is to allow students to have their English language communicative skills assessed in a more natural, intuitive environment (i.e., their own classroom with undergraduate students present).
Applicants will submit the Alternative Path Applicationand a video with high quality audio of them leading an entire class session (at least 45 minutes). There should be multiple examples of prepared and spontaneous speech (e.g., answering questions from students) and it should demonstrate the applicant’s ability to provide clear explanations and ideas that are supported with data and course content. The evaluation tool uses the same rubric and external evaluators as the MACCS test. The application and related documentation should be sent directly to the ITAP Coordinator.
