Johanna Lahti
Test Specialist
Fulbright Center
Helsinki, Finland

The Role of the Testing in Admission to U.S. Academic Programs

The Fulbright Center in Helsinki, Finland, houses a Prometric Testing Center. We administer over 1000 computer-based tests annually, majority of which are the ETS tests, TOEFL, GMAT, and GRE. Working as a Test Specialist I advice students, international education professionals, and university coordinators in testing issues. My PAL program topic was therefore of testing: “The Role of the Testing in Admission to American Academic Programs.”
To gain a holistic view, I visited universities and a community college to study the essentials from academic programs' point of view, and the ETS to get an insight into testing from a test organization's point of view.
There were three major goals: to understand the role of tests in admission from U.S. academic programs' point of view, to gain an insight into tests from test organization's point of view, and the future in testing; understanding the forthcoming changes in ETS’ tests (TOEFL in particular).

University of Virginia

The program started at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. My host, Ms. Suzanne Louis, the Director of the Lorna Sundberg International Center (http://www.virginia.edu/iso/ic/) had compiled a thorough program for me. It consisted of visits at different departments as well as meetings with staff from various departments. The program did not concentrate in testing issues only, but covered the university as a whole. This, in turn, is a necessity to understand the role of testing as a part of the entire system.
I had an opportunity to familiarize myself with the University of Virginia from different perspectives: the international students’, visitors’, and their support systems’ point of view; university students’ support systems; teaching support systems, and various departments’ point of view.
International aspect was strong as I stayed at the Lorna Sundberg International Center: a cozy house with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The Center has promoted intercultural exchange through various educational and social programs for over 30 years. It is a forum for intercultural learning experiences that provides educational and support services for international students, scholars, faculty, and their family members. There is also a library with a collection focusing on intercultural communication, traveling, and foreign cultures. Last but not least, the UVa’s International Center provides short-term guest accommodations for UVa students and scholars from abroad.
A concrete example of providing support for the international guests’ family members was a Conversation Group lead by a volunteer. The group gathers weekly for approximately an hour and discusses about basic everyday issues.
Another example is International Host Program where local families serve as host families or ‘friend families’ for international students to support and ease their adjustment to new surroundings. I had a pleasure to spend an afternoon and evening with the President of the International Host Programs, Ms. Cathy von Storch and her family.
I noticed during my couple–week stay that “The Center is not just a place, but a way of life!”, as the Center web-site states. Ms. Louis did not only compile a thorough program for me, but also took care that I am familiar with the university grounds and Charlottesville neighborhood. She must have also noticed my special talent of getting lost as she kindly escorted me to most of my meetings. Webmaster Wendy Hsu missed a party – or at least the beginning of it – by taking me to a delicious Friday night dinner at a local restaurant. Leaving the International Center, it’s wonderful staff, and the other residents from Italy, Great Britain, India, Japan, Morocco…was sad.

Dean of Students’ Office – Balance Between Support and Challenge

Students’ support system was introduced to me as I had the first meeting at University of Virginia’s Dean of Student’s Office with the Senior Associate Dean of Students. The office promotes student learning, growth – transition to full adulthood, and citizenship – to become an active citizen. During the hour and a half meeting I was given a clear picture of the Dean of Student’s Office with its six units from its history to present.
In comparison to Finnish universities many practices are rather different. A Finn would not expect to live the first year on campus (or “on grounds” as they say it at the Uva) with no car, let alone coming to the orientation already in the summer with their parents. Student organizations abound, there are 400 of them! All in all the community is very active, and everyone is taken care of. I found the key idea for the Dean of Student’s Office to be to create a balance between support and challenge.

Teaching Resource Center, a Support System for the Teaching Staff

The meeting with the Director of the Teaching Resource Center brought another new perspective: Teaching Resource Center, a support system for the teaching staff. It has existed since 1990 and has since grown to “a pan-University center for collegial community and committed conversation about teaching at all levels and in all academic disciplines. The TRC offers a number of services and resource materials designed to enhance the teaching abilities of faculty and teaching assistants at the University of Virginia. The TRC also administers several special programs, recognizing the skills and accomplishments of faculty, and aiding in the development of courses.” (trc.virginia.edu)

Uva from the Curry School of Education to Summer School

I met with several department and program officers: Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs at the Curry School of Education; Dean of Admissions at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions; Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Research, and Commonwealth Professor of Psychology at School of Arts and Sciences; Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs at School of Engineering and Applied Science; Darden Business School representatives: Director of Student Affairs, Director of Financial Aid, and Career Consultant; Director of Summer Session and Director of the Center for American English Language and Culture, and the Dean of Student Services and Admissions.

Application Process

We discussed in the meetings about the application process in general, for example, application requirements and deadlines, and test requirements in particular. Regardless of the department, similar aspects are emphasized in the application: GPA, grades, courses taken, honors courses, writing skills, and recommendations. In addition, undergraduate admissions mentioned also that applicant’s parents being the university alumni would be taken into consideration, as well as diversity, i.e. ethnic background.,br> Applicant’s study objectives and research interests are of importance as well. What do they want to study, where, and under whose supervision? Can the university offer what the applicant is looking for? It is always positive if the applicants mention some staff names on the application, for example, “I want to work with professor X because…” The person mentioned might read the application and can evaluate whether she/he wants to work with the student.
University of Virginia’s departments use SAT, GRE, GMAT, and TOEFL scores in their admission process. SAT I, II and TOEFL test scores are required at undergraduate level. However, it was emphasized that grades are more important than test scores: high scorers could be turned down if they have not challenged themselves with demanding courses in high school. This is taken as an indication that the student might be unlikely to challenge him/herself at the university

TOEFL

There is a 250 cut score for the TOEFL test both at undergraduate and graduate level. I was once told that admission is unlikely, if score is below 250. “Budget is small, we have to take the best students”. The Curry School of Education will evaluate the need of TOEFL report if the applicant has a degree in English, for example. BA. However, it has to be taken into consideration from which university and which program the degree is, and how long ago it was received. A degree in English does not automatically mean that there is no need for the TOEFL score. Undergraduate Admissions Office, however, told that undergraduates do not need a TOEFL score in case the SAT verbal score is good, or the applicant has studied in English also before.
Departments generally accept initially a copy of a student’s TOEFL report, until they receive the official report, in most cases electronically, from the ETS. Couple departments also mentioned of plans to accept the IELTS report as a proof of the English language skills.

SAT

Concerning the SAT test score in undergraduate admissions at the University of Virginia, the emphasis is on mathematics, writing, and on a subject test score. 67 % of the students are accepted from Virginia (instate), and 2/3 of applicants outside of Virginia. Thus students from outside have to have a high score: as instate score requirement is 500 and above, out state score is between 600 and 700. Median score for the accepted is 680-700. In case tests are taken more than once, highest score will be taken into account.

GRE

Compared to TOEFL, there are generally no stringent cut scores for the GRE. The Curry School of Education, for example, has a suggested combined score of 850 for Master’s level in verbal and quantitative sections. There is a greater emphasis in GRE score for the PhD students, as for example good writing skills are essential. At PhD level with verbal and quantitative score the requirement is each above 500.
Score emphasis depends also on the field of study. When law schools emphasize the verbal score, engineering schools emphasize the quantitative score. School of Engineering and Applied Science at the UVa points out the importance of the quantitative section. The average quantitative score for the accepted is 750 (maximum score 800), and verbal score 700. Writing score is approximately 5 (on a 0 – 6.0 scale).
The GRE test was criticized for not having predictive capacity: “should test something more important than the GRE does – it mainly tests how well you can do a test.” It was also mentioned that there probably is not enough knowledge of what to do with the writing section score: “faculty just looks at the score, but there is not much understanding of what it means.” It was also mentioned that some international students have high verbal scores, yet their communicative skills are poor. Decisions cannot be therefore always made based on test results, but applicants are sometimes called to hear their speaking abilities. However, there is also a positive side to the GRE test: it is a standardized test and is of great help to assess the international applicants as their Grade Point Averages are not known.

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia

The Darden Business school was founded in 1954. Darden's two-year master's of business administration degree program offers a unified curriculum rather than a collection of courses. The core of the Darden MBA program is the case method of instruction. Students learn to analyze major business challenges everyday through lively exchange in classes, informal discussion groups, and learning teams (www.darden.virginia.edu/overview/do_aGlance.htm).
Darden Director of Financial Aid, Career Consultant, and Director of Student Affairs provided me with an overview to Darden Business School. International students at Darden have a loan program, and they are eligible to borrow up to USD 53,000 a year. Funds come from the Bank of America. There is also a scholarship program of 12 stipends ranging from half tuition to full tuition, provided that the first year average grade has been at least B. In addition, 40 merit scholarships are granted based on study performance and service for community.
Students plan their careers since they start their studies. Second year students career coach the first year students. Darden's Career Development Center (CDC) supports Darden students in their individual career planning, for example, by teaching job searching skills. CDC also helps in searches for summer internships and full-time jobs.
Darden’s admission criteria include three major areas: academics, professional experience, and personal qualifications. Academics include test scores, grades, variety of courses taken, and where the courses have been taken. As the core of the Darden MBA program is the case method, excellent language skills are a pre-requisite: both analytical writing score and the verbal score from the GMAT test are important. On a 0 – 6.0 writing score scale there are few accepted with a score below 4.5.The quantitative score is also equally important, and the GMAT total score for the accepted is close to 700 (test maximum score 800). Darden accepts an unofficial score or a self-reported score by the application deadline. Darden’s web-site covers the institutions GMAT procedures well in their ‘Admissions Basics: Frequently Asked Questions’ section admissions.darden.virginia.edu/generalFAQ.htm.
Admissions officers also interview the applicants. 50% of the international applicants come to the interviews as well. As grades are important, Darden officers travel abroad to study the grades, and the system behind them. Recommendations from applicants’ supervisors are required. Recommendation letters should be personalized. It is positive if the applicant has previously been in a supervising or managing position, has taken responsibility. Personal characteristics are also important: who the applicant is, what are his/hers talents, how realistic the career goals are, and how much the applicant understands of what she/he wants to study.

Summer School

Each summer the University of Virginia offers a selection of some 400 courses to over four thousand students through its Summer Session. Many of these courses are not available during the academic year.
The mission of the University's Summer Session is to supplement academic-year course offerings, to facilitate fulfillment of undergraduate and graduate degree requirements, and to extend access to the resources of the University of Virginia to students enrolled at other colleges or universities, rising high school juniors and seniors, and lifelong learners (www.virginia.edu/summer/). Last year 41% of the graduates had summer session classes.

University of Richmond

During a half-day visit to University of Richmond I met with International Student and Internship Advisor and Dean of International Education. I was given an overall picture of the university, its programs, students - both domestic and international - and student life, and academic support system.
There are approximately 3000 undergraduate and 1000 graduate students at the University of Richmond. Law school, business school, and a quite unique leadership program build the University together with several master’s programs. The University offers good academic support services including, for example, a writing center, academic skills center, speech center, and a counseling center.
The University of Richmond students live on campus and are very active: there are over 200 student organizations. In addition students engage themselves also with volunteer work. In spring 2004 there were 156 international students biggest groups being from Bulgaria, Turkey, India, and Japan.
Concerning the language skills requirements for the international students, University of Richmond requires a score of 213 from the computer-based TOEFL. Competitive applicants score 250 and above though. On the other hand, the University offers four-week English as a Second Language (ESL) summer programs for those who have been admitted conditionally meaning the applicants having a low TOEFL score.
The University of Richmond organizes a three and a half day, mandatory orientation for the international students. Students are divided into groups of approximately ten people with an orientation adviser. The orientation covers, for example, university practices, immigration law issues, and everyday life issues.
International students are provided also with other program throughout the academic year: there are, for example, an International week in October, International dinner in February, and International film series. In University’s Ambassador program an international student is matched with an older student, and there is also a host family program to support the international students.
At the end of the day I had a chance to participate a University information session and a tour. Another new experience, where two university students gave a brief, but well covering presentation of the University followed by a walk around the University campus. This was meant to prospective students and their parents. In addition to me, there was one student with her mother, who appeared to be very interested in why I was attending the presentation and walk. Having explained why I was there she replied “oh, what a nice vacation for you.” Either I have troubles in expressing myself in English, or we have very different opinions of a vacation.

Virginia Commonwealth University

After University of Richmond, I briefly visited Virginia Commonwealth University, and met with the Executive Director of the Office of International Education, Student Services Coordinator at the Office of International Education, and a Professor at School of World Studies.,br> As the visit was brief, we did not have the time to go into deeper details. However, I was given a good overview of VCU, the university of 27 000 students, its academic programs and departments: VCU offers 162 BA, master's, doctoral, professional and certificate degree programs.
Some interesting details were also mentioned: Chemistry Nobel winner 2003 comes from VCU, several programs are rated number 1 in the U.S., and the successful medical department – presidents’ hearts are monitored at VCU!
There are no SAT or TOEFL requirements for international undergraduate students, VCU offers an ESL program. However, the requirements for exchange students are 1280 and above combined score for the SAT, 213 in TOEFL for undergraduate exchange students and 250 for the graduate students.

Piedmont Virginia Community College

Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville ended my university/college visits. The Director of Student Support Services gave me an overview of PVCC. It is a state supported two-year college primarily intended to serve the residents of Central Virginia. PVCC says to be accessible: classes are small, students receive high quality education, and the price is affordable. In PVCC’s annual surveys graduates report of being very satisfied with the quality of their academic experience and preparation for the workplace or furter study.
I received a copy from The Wall Street Journal article, ‘A Backdoor Route to a Dream College’ from June 2003. It said: “In Virginia, PVCC is becoming known as a destination for students who didn’t get accepted to the University of Virginia the first time around. In the past two academic years, over 60% of Piedmont applicants were accepted – higher than the approximately 50% of applicants who get in as freshmen from in-state, and the about 20% of out-state applicants who are accepted.” The PVCC staff and the students I met all emphasized the quality of their institution with pride in their voice. And for a visitor, PVCC really appeared as a welcoming place with a supportive and inspiring atmosphere to study and work.
After the general overview I visited the Learning Center in PVCC. The Learning Center is the tutoring and testing area of the college. Additionally, it provides support services to students with disabilities.
PVCC requires most students to take placement tests to determine course placement. Computerized placement tests are offered in English, math, or foreign languages, and they are given daily on a walk-in basis. The multiple-choice tests are not timed. The computers are also used to administer on-line tests to students who take Internet-based courses either at PVCC or distance education courses at other colleges. Also academic make-up tests are proctored in the Learning Center. There are computers in other areas of the Learning Center too where students may use them for their studies.
The testing system seemed to be flexible and operate smoothly seldom having any technical problems. This is possible, because the tests are meant for PVCC students, and not to a wide variety of people coming from different institutions, as, for example, the standardized ETS tests are. Test computers, and the Learning Center as a whole, are in very effective use.

Educational Testing Service

The ‘second part’ of my project took place at the ETS in Princeton, New Jersey. I was under the impression that the ETS is a huge office building complex by some busy street downtown the mega-size city of Princeton. Therefore I was rather surprised as I was sitting in a shuttle bus from the airport to ETS: passenger after passenger got off, and eventually I was the only one sitting in the vehicle. When I noticed there are not streetlights anymore, I thought the driver must have forgotten me and is on his way to Canada. Luckily, however, I managed to stay calm and not to rush over to him and make a ‘foreign-tourist-impression’ - we reached the ETS after all.
I had earlier been in touch with both Dr. Annabelle Galera Simpson, the Director of the ETS Global Institute, and Dr. Linda H. Scatton, Senior Curriculum Development Specialist at the Global Institute. I expressed my PAL-project goals, and things I was hoping to see and learn at the ETS. We corresponded via e-mail throughout winter-spring 2004, and based on what we had negotiated, Dr. Scatton had compiled me a very thorough three-day program.
The program at ETS consisted of an overview of ETS and the Global Institute; Fulbright Commissions, U.S. State Department and ETS; Test Development Process; Present and Future Test Site Requirements; Tour of Operations at Ewing Site; Performance Assessment Scoring Services (PASS); CBT Network; New iBT TOEFL; GRE test; ETS Seminar where I had a presentation, and a visit to ETS Carl C. Brigham Library.

From History to Present

The program started with an overview to ETS, its history and presence. This is an important link in understanding the whole picture: where they come from, who they are, and where they are going. Edward Kelly’s presentation on the relations between Fulbright Commissions, U.S. Department of State, and the ETS was also very clarifying, and a necessity to understand.
The first ‘specific test related’ session was the introduction to test development process by Assessment Specialist, Dr. Mark Zelman. Dr. Zelman writes test items to the GMAT test quantitative section, and introduced the process step by step from defining assessment to conducting post-test activities. The number of people it takes to write one test item, and the amount of work and time it takes is really impressive.
Test site requirements –session by Director Arthur A. Alleva at CBT operations – consisted of the forthcoming Internet-Based Test Center (iBT) requirements and practices. The four primary elements are: physical and technical requirements, test center administration software, and administrative staff. There are several differences in the iBT system compared to the present CBT system, main difference being that the system will be based on the Internet thus allowing smoother data transmission, and simplifying the test appointment scheduling process, the actual test taking, and providing the score report to be accessed on-line.
Test security is a top priority issue. To secure the test questions, continuous testing will be replaced by providing approximately some 2 – 4 fixed test dates monthly. Therefore there will also have to be more test centers than at present. ETS will recruit institutions to serve as test centers. Some of the criteria include, for example, the geographical location – where there is a demand for a test center due to large population, for instance. The institution also has to provide proper equipment. Present centers may not want to continue or do not have the required capacity. This, in fact, can turn out to be a big problem: for example, many present Centers can be very willing to continue testing, but are facing a challenge with the new capacity requirements.

Field Trip to Ewing

The second day was a ‘touring day’. We visited the Ewing Site, where operations take place. This visit included the Customer Response Center, Test Administration Services, Graduate and Professional Education Processing/Resolutions, Publishing (Printing Services), PASS, and Computer-Based Testing Network.
Seeing Customer Response Center live was very interesting. This is close to everyday work at Test Centers: for example the Center Problem Reports (CPR) that Test Center Administrators write in case there is some irregularity in testing, first go through this department. There are several representatives reading CPRs and forwarding them. The representatives read hundreds of CPRs in a day! This is partly explained by the fact that majority of the reports concern test taker address changes or contact information spelling error corrections.
I also met with representatives from the Disability Services. They were interested in knowing whether we have administered any special conditions tests, and how the process has succeeded. In fact, we have never administered a special conditions test. In case a candidate needs special arrangements, extra timing for the test, or some assisting devices, they have to request the special arrangements from the ETS. Various forms and medical certificates are needed for this. All in all the process is quite time consuming and also somewhat complicated. I received direct contact information to the Disability Services department for possible future cases where we may need help and further instructions for a candidate.
One of the most memorable moments was to finally meet in person Ms. Sheila Linkchorst from the Office of Overseas Communications. I have been e-mailing with her for years: whatever test related troubles, questions, or concerns there are, she always has the answer, or finds someone with the answer.
The ETS Printing Services was introduced to me next as we walked through the halls with Group Director Mr. Simonelli. I was hoping to see TOEFL Bulletins being printed, but they do not print such big volume publications, only smaller volumes, for example, test question booklets.
Scoring Administrator, Ms. Raghunathan at PASS introduced the TOEFL essay scoring system. Two independent scorers read and score the essays. ETS uses nowadays On-line scoring system thus scorers can work from their home all over the country. We covered the basics in essay scorer requirements, main points to be considered in evaluating and scoring the essay, and various practical issues to be considered in the process. Scorers’ work can be followed accurately at the ETS while they work: what time the work was started, how many essays have been scored, average score given, average essay reading speed, and many other details. A big surprise to me was that the top scorers with long work experience read approximately 40 – 50 essays in an hour!
The last visit at Ewing site was with the Computer-Based Testing Network that is part of the Information Services and Technology Division. We met with the staff including IT CBT Operations Manager and CBT Network Management Director. We covered the CBT Network parties and labor division and relations between them. The meeting was very interesting and productive, we discussed several issues that have taken place or will take place. It appeared that Project Manager Vedet Carter was personally helping us as one of the testing computers broke during a peak testing time in fall 2003. This lead to further conversation of the information exchange between test centers and ETS, for example the role and importance of Center Problem Reports (CPR). Ms. Carter took quick action in the broken computer case specifically based on a CPR from Helsinki.

iBT TOEFL: New Era of Language Testing

Terry Axe and Eileen Tyson introduced the new iBT TOEFL very thoroughly: overview with background information in designing the test, unique and new features compared to the current test, the test structure with types of questions and tasks, and scoring system. This, again, was extremely productive session. The iBT TOEFL is a pioneer in new language testing era particularly because of the communicative aspect of the test. It will be interesting to see what kind of feed-back the test gets as it starts, and particularly whether there will be any effect to language teaching. The new format should also help the universities in their student admissions in providing more information of applicants’ communicative abilities - the aspect that tests have not been measuring efficiently enough earlier.

GRE

In my –pre-PAL communication with the ETS I listed communication between ETS and the institutions (e.g. universities using ETS test scores in their student admission) as one area of interest. This was well covered when we spoke about the GRE test with Kathy O’Neill. We first covered the tasks of the GRE board, and how it works. Thereafter we took a closer look at the communication channels between the GRE and the institutions. The channels include among others GRE Web site, promotional mailings, conferences, listservs, score user publications, and annual mailings to score recipients. However, despite several ways of communication Ms. O’ Neill admitted that it is “tough” to try to reach the ‘correct’ people at universities, the ones who are responsible for testing issues, for example in Student Admissions Committees. Partly this is due to a fact that university committees shift a lot, and campus liaisons do not necessarily have the latest information either.
We also touched the topic of universities criticizing tests of not being valid. ETS asks for help to conduct validity of tests, but institutions are often unable to provide the help needed. This is not, after all, the highest priority issue for universities while the staff is busy with several other issues. There is clearly a challenge to make the demand and supply meet.

From Seminar to Library

The last day at ETS started with my presentation of ‘Administering ETS Tests in Finland – News and Views from the CBT Test Center Front’. ETS has an ongoing seminar series for their staff where many presenters are people like me, visitors. Approximately 20 people attended the seminar. I provided them with an overview of testing in Finland: brief introduction to the Fulbright Center, test days and times, client statistics in terms of tests taken, test advising, and results of a client survey that we conducted in spring 2003. I believe this all was valuable information for the ETS staff – many of them commented how they have actually never spoken with anyone who works directly with a Test Center, and with the test takers.
The ETS visit was concluded by a visit to the Carl C. Brigham Library. After the Library introduction and tour I had a chance to take a closer look at the books, catalogues etc. This was a place where I could have spent hours: world’s largest test collection with over 20, 000 test instruments, books and publications on achievement tests, personality tests, cognitive tests etc, etc.

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

Janine Farhat and Deborah Hefferon kindly organized me an extra visit to TESOL on my very last day. I was familiar with the name, but did not know much else of the organization. Before visiting TESOL, I familiarized myself with them by studying their web-site. There seemed to be several areas of interest to me, particularly their research activities, especially research concerning testing. I also found couple interesting publications: 'A New Decade of Language Testing Research: Selected Papers from the 1990 Language Testing Research Colloquium', and 'Reviews of English Language Proficiency Tests'.
I was also interested to hear if TESOL cooperated with any testing organizations (e.g. ETS), and anything they have to do with language testing issues - whether research activity or something else. In addition I found TESOL’s resources, and the Conference organized by them very interesting.
We had some e-mail correspondence of these issues with Laura Bryant, Member Relations Coordinator at TESOL. We had the TESOL meeting with Ms. Bryant, Paul G. Gibbs, Director of Publishing, and Srisucha McCabe, Education Programs Coordinator. They provided me with very good overview of what the TESOL is and what they do. In addition, Mr. Gibbs gave me the two publications I was interested in and had mentioned earlier in my e-mail to Ms. Bryant! Invaluable information to get the big picture for someone whose work has anything to do with language testing.

Summa Sumarum - The Lesson Learned

PAL program has been an eye-opener for the big picture, and the interrelatedness of the world. Pre-orientation through the Internet and e-mail, the actual orientation day, and the two-day Seminar in Washington DC organized and structured the thoughts, provided a firm framework for things to come. Each and every individual with whom I interacted during the program provided me with something new and invaluable.
I find self-knowledge to be the key point – both for individuals and organizations/ institutions. I also think that you only learn to know yourself with the help of others. PAL-program has helped me further understand who I am as I’ve tried to observe my reactions and behavior with ‘an outsiders eyes’ from the moment I decided to apply to the program through the pre-orientation, orientation, my own research projects at the universities and ETS and the PAL seminar all the way through until today.
Once you know who you are, you have to understand what you can change, and how you can change. You also have to understand what you cannot change – what you end up with, you have to learn to accept. This can easily be a lifetime process.
No one masters everything alone, we have to work and co-operate with others. Self-knowledge and acceptance make it a little easier: once you accept yourself you can easier accept also others and their different ways of thinking and working. Diversity is power. You will not remain healthy if you ate just one food, no matter how healthy it was. You have to combine, understand the value of variety and diversity, relations and amounts between different ingredients. This is what I think we have to realize and do also in larger scale than eating: combine forces, co-operate – also with partners who at first sight may seem to be distant and have little to do with the goal we are aiming at – the answer might be somewhere where we do not look for. Even in airplanes there is a note in the security instructions for finding the closest exit – it might also be behind you!
I would like to apply this same scheme to testing as a whole. There are separate entities from individual test takers through institutions using the scores to the test developing organizations, and still many others on the way. Considerable amount of co-operation already exists, but we could do with more. Know and accept yourself, know and accept the others – this formula helps to make things go smoother, and better advantage can be taken of the hard work that every party does: students finding out facts about the tests and studying for them; institutions setting guidelines and deciding scores; test developers designing valid and reliable tests that meet the demand, etc. There is a clear challenge to make things work better, find effective communication paths to reach who you have to, to get and understand the information you have to, and understand what that essential information is. This concerns everyone: test takers, test centers, advisers, institutions, ETS.
Technology advances rapidly, but people and organizations tend to lag behind. There are effective means of communication, globalizing, making the world smaller. A big challenge for the organizations is to change their long time and established habits to meet the demands of the present – and above all, to realize and understand the demands. Maybe reject some old practices that nowadays appear as bureaucratic and hierarchical structures that do not apply anymore as there are easier and faster ways to get things done. They were practices designed for circumstances that do not exist anymore. To get something new, we have to learn to give up something old.
This all might sound a bit idealistic, but there has to be a bit of idealism, otherwise there would not be a reason to work. After all, status quo should not be the aim. PAL-program is a wonderful example of a project that leads into this direction. There has to be something that triggers a click on the head – PAL did it for me.

A Big Thank You to You All!

There are dozens of people whom I want to express my warmest thank you to make my participation in the PAL program possible. I would like to express my special thank you to following people:
My colleagues at the Fulbright Center: Terhi Molsa, Anni Lemilainen, Katariina Keskinen, Tuula Laurila, Terhi Topi, Leena Matilainen, and Kirsi Vesaikko; Dr. Victoria Middleton, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki; Phillip R. Ives, and Dorothy Mora at the U.S. Department of State; Janine Farhat, Debbie Hefferon and Theresa Schweser at the College Board; Suzanne Louis at the International Center of the University of Virginia; Dr. Annabelle Galera Simpson and Dr. Linda H. Scatton at the ETS, and Laura Bryant at TESOL.

Thank you all who gave me your time and an opportunity to meet with you during the program:
Judy Saulle, Wendy Hsu, and Fadila Guessous at the Lorna Sundberg International Center at the UVa; Cathy von Storch and her family; Dr. Shamim Sisson, Dr. Marva Barnett, Dr. Joanne M.McNergney, Dr. John A. Blackburn, Dr. Peter C. Brunjes, Dr. Kathryn C. Thornton, Dr. Dudley J. Doane, and Ms. Murielle Kervizic at the UVa; Barbara A. Millar, Julie Papp, and Laurence G. Mueller at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration; Krittika Onsanit, Dr. Uliana Gabara, and Marilyn Hesser at the University of Richmond; Dr. Peter S. Kirkpatrick, Pamela O. Haney, and Dr. Anders Linde-Laursen at Virginia Commonwealth University; Mary Lee Walsh, Laura Symons, and Carole McIvor at Piedmont Virginia Community College; Dr. Mark Zelman, Frank Miller, Edward J. Kelly, Arthur Alleva, Dr. Barbara Kirsh, Teresa Axe, Eileen Tyson, Kathy O’Neill, Olek Zelazny, Vedet Carter, Herb Wunder, Lauren J. Weil, Michael Palumbo, Susan Coverdale, Valerie Bice, Troy Grier, Pete Simonelli, Nithya Raghunathan, and Bonnie Eskra at the ETS; Paul G. Gibbs, and Srisucha McCabe at TESOL.

And finally – thank you my PAL Fellows:
Abir, Cecile, Tsegaye, Daniel, Luc, Andreina, Mila, Judy, Oksana, Hasan, Anara, Celine, and my room mates Olga and Udval (special thanks for bearing with me :) )