Congratulations
on passing the ITA Test.
Your score indicates that you have a sufficient command of spoken English
to work as a teaching TA despite some gaps in language; however, you need
on-going language work throughout the semester you are teaching in order to
support your interaction with students. As a reminder,
Category Two TAs can work in any TA assignment.
Category Three TAs can work as TAs in the following assignments:
- Graduate classes, labs or studios
- Tutor for one-on-one undergraduate sessions such as office hours or individual
tutoring
- Instructor assistant for undergraduate labs or studios (if supervised by an
instructor who is present in the lab or studio, and if not responsible for safety
instructions or for giving presentations to the class).
You are eligible to work as a teaching TA, but are required by Carnegie
Mellon policy to attend a minimum of 15 hours of ICC work during the semester
you are working as a teaching TA.
Below are some questions that students in Category Two & Three often
ask:
What specific
ICC work should Category Two & Three students do during the semester that they are
working as teaching TAs?
Ideally, students will choose the work that we have indicated (see your ITA Test Results form)
is most useful for their individual language needs and which will best help them develop
their academic and professional fluency.
However, we realize that students sometimes have
schedule conflicts that might prevent them from attending specific workshops. The ICC offers
many credit classes, non-credit workshops, individual tutoring, self-paced video
appointments, information sessions, and writing clinic appointments, all of which can
fulfill the required 15 hours.
Note: no more than 7 self-paced hours can be used to fulfill the 15-hour requirement.
Students can get 2 additional hours of credit if they submit an "ITA Self-paced Journal".
I am going
to be very busy the semester that I work as a teaching TA. Can I wait until the end of the
semester or the following semester to attend the ICC work?
No. Category Two & Three TAs must attend the required 15 hours of ICC work during the semester
they are working as teaching TAs because the intent of the policy is to make sure that
ITAs have on-going language support throughout the semester they are interacting with
students. If possible, you should begin ICC work from the very beginning of the semester.
Does
the university monitor the workshop attendance of Category Two & Three TAs?
Yes. The Provost's office asks us to complete a report indicating whether Category Two & Three
teaching TAs are attending the required work. It is your responsibility to make sure
that you are attending the required 15 hours of ICC work.
If I take the ITA
Test several semesters before my TA assignment, should I wait until
I begin working as a TA before doing language work?
No, you should not wait. We encourage students to attend workshops before the semester
they work as a teaching TA.
The best way to develop robust fluency is through continued practice, both before and
during your TA assignment. In fact, we have seen TAs who lost fluency after dropping out
of language work, especially if they were not actively involved in English outside of the ICC.
Remember, however, that you are still required to attend 15 hours of ICC work concurrent
with your TA assignment. If you do a significant amount of work in the semesters before
you work as a teaching TA, you may want to consider retaking the ITA test before beginning
your TA assignment. Check with the ICC to determine the best time to retake the test.
Do
I have to attend ICC work every semester I work as a teaching TA?
As a Category Two or Three TA, you must attend the required 15 hours of ICC work during every semester
you work as a teaching TA unless you retake the test and place into Category One.
Do I need to eventually place
into Category One?
No, you do not need to strive to achieve Category One. You have passed the test and have
a sufficient command of spoken English to work as a teaching TA. For example, many Category Two TAs
have been highly successful as TAs, and several have won teaching awards.
Some Category Three TAs, however, may need to work towards Category Two if they are required
to work as TAs in undergraduate classes
Once I complete my TA
assignment(s), do I need to retake the ITA test to see if my language has improved or to
satisfy an exit requirement?
No, you do not need to retake the ITA test unless you will need to work as a teaching TA
in future semesters.
Check with your ICC instructor to see if you have made sufficient progress in your language
so that there could be a significant difference in your test score.
Moving into a higher category requires a significant increase in fluency and
does not reflect incremental improvements in language or teaching skills.
Consider also that if you retake the ITA test and remain in Category Two or Three, it may appear
to your department that your language has not improved even though you may have developed
many of your skills.
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