Methodology
The sections below provide a brief overview for key parts of the methodology employed in administering and assessing the CIEE Applicant Interview (CAI). The CAI questioning protocol and assessment rubric have gone through three comprehensive audits by the CIEE academic team, reviews by more than 30 trained interviewers, and an external advisory committee. In the creation of this updated protocol, CIEE has drawn on experience gained over the course of two years, thousands of interviews, and extensive feedback from admission officers. CIEE has invested significantly in the creation of an accurate and consistent interview assessment. Please contact us if you’d like to know more details about the researched methodology behind the CAI.
The CAI uses Bloom’s Taxonomy as a general guide for separating questions among the three tiers of questioning. Within each interview discussion topic, the questions asked require a wide range of cognitive thought to answer appropriately. Some questions simply require a restatement of known information, while others require a high level of critical analysis. The extent of the applicant’s ability to appropriately discuss a topic at different tiers of questioning is tied to the assessment which is completed by two separate assessors for each interview.
Assessment Protocol
The formative, dynamic assessment developed by CIEE specifically for the CAI has been used to assess thousands of interviews, and has proven to be highly consistent. Our three-tiered questioning protocol described above allows us to assess in a reliable, yet flexible manner, using our tried and tested assessment rubric in conjunction with unscripted questions. There are multiple opportunities throughout each interview when the interviewer specifically elicits responses that speak to each of our rubric sections. When comparing responses to multiple questions looking for insight into the same rubric item, we’re able to accurately and reliably assess student’s ability within any rubric item. Allowing interviewers the freedom to ask appropriate, unscripted follow-up questions adds to the randomness of the interview within our structured system. The questioning protocol employed allows us to accurately assess communication and reasoning abilities while also testing for the authenticity in a consistent manner.
Two Assessors
Every single interview is assessed twice by a trained CAI assessor using the same assessment rubric. In addition to multiple score assessments, every interview is commented on twice by the two different assessors. This makes the CAI assessment a solid, relevant tool for making admission decisions.
TOEFL Correlation
On average, a CAI score of 3.1 out of 4.0 is equivalent to a TOEFL iBT score of 99. This correlation was created with data from a sampling of more than 1,000 applicants participating in the CAI and TOEFL iBT over the course of two years. The correlations over time were found to be highly consistent when compared to TOEFL iBT scores. Significant deviations from the average correlation listed above exist for nearly 10% of applicants to U.S. schools. Using CAI scores as a cross-reference to TOEFL scores along with our correlation data gives our partner schools the most meaningful and efficient possible measure of an applicant’s overall communication ability and future success on campus.