Research Memorandum
ETS RM–21-03
Design Framework for the
TOEFL® Essentials™ Test 2021
Spiros Papageorgiou
Larry Davis
John M. Norris
Pablo Garcia Gomez
Venessa F. Manna
Lora Monfils
May 2021
, ETS Research Memorandum Series
EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Laura Hamilton
Associate Vice President
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Beata Beigman Klebanov Anastassia Loukina
Senior Research Scientist Managing Senior Research Scientist
Heather Buzick Gautam Puhan
Senior Research Scientist Psychometrics Director
Tim Davey Jonathan Schmidgall
Research Director Research Scientist
John Davis Jesse Sparks
Research Scientist Research Scientist
Marna Golub-Smith Michael Walker
Consultant Distinguished Presidential Appointee
Priya Kannan Klaus Zechner
Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist
Sooyeon Kim Rebecca Zwick
Principal Psychometrician Distinguished Presidential Appointee
PRODUCTION EDITORS
Kim Fryer Ayleen Gontz
Manager, Editing Services Senior Editor
Since its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and
services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to
making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts
of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Memorandum series, undergo a formal peer-review process
by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted
peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication
processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Memorandum series and
other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and
Trustees of Educational Testing Service.
The Daniel Eignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the
Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been
created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS.
, Design Framework for the TOEFL® Essentials™ Test 2021
Spiros Papageorgiou, Larry Davis, John M. Norris, Pablo Garcia Gomez, Venessa F. Manna,
and Lora Monfils
ETS, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
May 2021
Corresponding author: S. Papageorgiou, Email:
Suggested citation: Papageorgiou, S., Davis, L., Norris, J. M., Garcia Gomez, P., Manna, V. F., & Monfils, L. (2021).
Design framework for the TOEFL® Essentials™ test 2021 (Research Memorandum No. RM-21-03). ETS.
, Find other ETS-published reports by searching the ETS ReSEARCHER
database at https://search.ets.org/researcher/
To obtain a copy of an ETS research report, please visit
https://ets.org/research/contact/
Action Editor: Brent Bridgeman
Reviewers: Jonathan Schmidgall and Rick Tannenbaum
Copyright © 2021 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.
ETS, the ETS logo, MYBEST, TOEFL, TOEFL IBT, and TOEFL JUNIOR are registered trademarks of Educational Testing
Service (ETS). TOEFL ESSENTIALS is a trademark of ETS. Figures 2–11 are screenshots from the TOEFL Essentials
practice and familiarization materials. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
ETS RM–21-03
Design Framework for the
TOEFL® Essentials™ Test 2021
Spiros Papageorgiou
Larry Davis
John M. Norris
Pablo Garcia Gomez
Venessa F. Manna
Lora Monfils
May 2021
, ETS Research Memorandum Series
EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Laura Hamilton
Associate Vice President
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Beata Beigman Klebanov Anastassia Loukina
Senior Research Scientist Managing Senior Research Scientist
Heather Buzick Gautam Puhan
Senior Research Scientist Psychometrics Director
Tim Davey Jonathan Schmidgall
Research Director Research Scientist
John Davis Jesse Sparks
Research Scientist Research Scientist
Marna Golub-Smith Michael Walker
Consultant Distinguished Presidential Appointee
Priya Kannan Klaus Zechner
Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist
Sooyeon Kim Rebecca Zwick
Principal Psychometrician Distinguished Presidential Appointee
PRODUCTION EDITORS
Kim Fryer Ayleen Gontz
Manager, Editing Services Senior Editor
Since its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and
services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to
making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts
of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Memorandum series, undergo a formal peer-review process
by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted
peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication
processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Memorandum series and
other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and
Trustees of Educational Testing Service.
The Daniel Eignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the
Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been
created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS.
, Design Framework for the TOEFL® Essentials™ Test 2021
Spiros Papageorgiou, Larry Davis, John M. Norris, Pablo Garcia Gomez, Venessa F. Manna,
and Lora Monfils
ETS, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
May 2021
Corresponding author: S. Papageorgiou, Email:
Suggested citation: Papageorgiou, S., Davis, L., Norris, J. M., Garcia Gomez, P., Manna, V. F., & Monfils, L. (2021).
Design framework for the TOEFL® Essentials™ test 2021 (Research Memorandum No. RM-21-03). ETS.
, Find other ETS-published reports by searching the ETS ReSEARCHER
database at https://search.ets.org/researcher/
To obtain a copy of an ETS research report, please visit
https://ets.org/research/contact/
Action Editor: Brent Bridgeman
Reviewers: Jonathan Schmidgall and Rick Tannenbaum
Copyright © 2021 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.
ETS, the ETS logo, MYBEST, TOEFL, TOEFL IBT, and TOEFL JUNIOR are registered trademarks of Educational Testing
Service (ETS). TOEFL ESSENTIALS is a trademark of ETS. Figures 2–11 are screenshots from the TOEFL Essentials
practice and familiarization materials. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
