ETS Suggestions for Writing the TOEFL Academic Discussion Responses: topic on Environment vs education

Hey everyone! Great to see you back for another TOEFL study session.While the 2026 TOEFL has changed drastically, the Academic Discussion section of the Writing task remains the same. So it’s definitely worth understanding how TOEFL evaluates your Academic Discussion essays — and what strategies ETS, the test maker itself, recommends for writing a high-scoring response.

Today, we’re going to take a close look at what ETS says in its official 2023 documents, which explain the new TOEFL Academic Discussion task that replaced the old Independent Essay format. These documents show exactly how to write your essay and how it will be scored. So, in this session, we’ll go through ETS’s guidelines and rubrics step by step, and I’ll also share sample essays that are designed to score 5 out of 5.

Prompt question: Environment vs education

For this first question, the professor asks which is more important: environmental protection or education. Kelly says environmental protection, stressing the challenge of how to protect the environment, while Andrew says education is more important, supporting that educated people can find solutions to environmental protection challenges.

• Topic: Choosing between prioritizing environmental protection or education.

• Kelly's Stance: Prioritizes environmental protection, focusing heavily on the immediate challenge of saving the planet.

• Andrew's Stance: Prioritizes education, arguing that educated individuals will ultimately find solutions to environmental challenges.

ETS does not provide sample responses for this question; instead, it offers guidance on how to respond correctly. Let’s go over how to do it.

The most important point is: “Your response is a contribution to the other students’ posts in an online discussion for the class. Be sure to add your own perspective to the discussion, not merely repeat ideas that have already been stated.”

Don’t just echo or restate another student’s opinion. Instead, express your own point of view or extend their idea by adding something new — a fresh reason, an example, or a connection they didn’t mention. 

Agreeing with Kelly

• “You might agree with Kelly that environmental protection should be the priority. You will need to add your own support for this viewpoint.”

• “You could point out that governments currently spend a great deal of money compensating for climate change catastrophes such as increased flooding, wind damage, or ruined crops.”

• “Investing more in environmental protections now could actually save governments money later on — which could then be used for more education funding.”

In other words, if you agree with a classmate, don’t just say, “I agree.” That is too simple. Instead, you must expand on their idea — explain why you agree, and provide your own evidence or reasoning.  This is a sample essay based on ETS’s suggestions:

I agree with Kelly that the government should prioritize protecting the environment over any other policies including education. When the environment is ruined, all other policy objectives become ineffective. Case in point: my local government has spent millions of dollars improving school buildings over the past decade, yet last year, my hometown suffered severe flooding caused by an atmospheric riverstorm linked to climate change. This disaster destroyed not only the recent school improvements but also entire school buildings, roads, and homes, forcing local schools to close for months. If the government had invested more in environmental protections, such as improved flood management and sustainable land use, this disaster could have been minimized, saving both money and disruption to education. Investing in the environment now could prevent such losses and allow governments to allocate saved resources to schools and educational programs, making environmental protection a practical and essential priority.

Agreeing with Andrew

OK, this is the ETS suggestion on how to write if you agree with Andrew:

“If you agree with Andrew that education should be the bigger priority, you could add to his argument by pointing out the amount of research that universities conduct — not only on solving environmental problems, which Andrew alluded to, but also on treating diseases, creating useful technology, and developing sustainable agriculture.”

That is, if you take the other side, add new supporting points. Don’t just repeat Andrew’s words — expand on them. Show how education leads to wider social benefits, such as new technology, medical research, or sustainable solutions.

This is a sample essay based on ETS’s suggestion:

I agree with Andrew that the government should prioritize education over other policies, including environmental protection. This is simply because we usually know what the goal is but don’t always know how to achieve it. Even Kelly herself admitted that the real challenge is deciding which methods to use to protect the environment. It is no surprise that everyone recognizes the importance of a safe and healthy environment, but what we often don’t know is how to accomplish that goal. This is why education is essential. Case in point: my local community faced severe water pollution that affected both homes and schools. While the government tried to address the problem, it was ultimately a graduate student team from a local university who designed a cost-effective water filtration system for the town. This example shows that educated people can create innovative solutions that governments alone might not achieve. By investing in education, the government not only strengthens the workforce and society but also empowers citizens to tackle pressing issues, including environmental crises.

“There is no ‘correct’ answer to this question. The important part of this task is that you support your reasoning.“ That is, there’s no right or wrong position — only strong or weak reasoning. The raters focus on how well you support your ideas, not which side you choose.

“The task is not as formal as an academic essay but not as informal as you might think.” It’s fine to sound natural, but you should follow standard grammar rules.” This relates to the language use and word choice elements in the ETS rubric. Your tone should be semi-formal. You’re not writing a research paper, but you are also not chatting with friends. Keep it polite, clear, and academic — just like you would write to a professor and classmates in an online course. Write in a natural voice, but always use correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. ETS wants to see that you can express ideas smoothly and accurately.

“You should show your disagreement in a respectful and reasoned way.” If you disagree, do it politely by saying something like, I respectfully disagree or I am afraid I have to disagree.