The campus counseling department manages language testing. Students and parents interested in testing should contact their campus counselor.
Language Testing dates are set by each campus based on schedule and availability.
Starting in August 2023, High School students (Grades 9 through 12) who wish to test in languages and earn language credits will take the following AVANT Assessments:
- STAMP* 4s: Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified & Traditional), Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Spanish for Spanish Speakers, Yup’ik
- Students will be testing in four domains: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing.
- STAMP* 3s: Swahili and Yoruba
- Students will be testing in three domains: Reading, Speaking, and Writing.
- STAMP* WS: Amharic, Armenian, Cabo Verdean, Chin, Chuukese, Czech, Filipino (Tagalog), Haitian-Creole, Hawaiian (‘Ōlelo Hawai’i), Hmong, Ilocano, Kannada, Marathi, Marshallese, Samoan, Somali Maay Maay, Somali, Swahili**, Maxaa, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yoruba**, Yup’ik, Zomi
- Students will be testing in two domains: Writing and Speaking.
- STAMP tests are web-based evaluations provided in a digital format only.
- Student must know how to type in the language they wish to test. A special character keyboard will be downloaded for students testing in language that do not use the typical roman alphabet and keyboard.
- Accents in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish are accessible directly on the screen.
- Students/Parents must contact their campus counselor to register for language testing.
- Credits earned via language testing (at the middle school or high school level) are not used as part of GPA or Class Rank.
- Our district will fund language testing only for language credits counting toward that student’s graduation requirement under the Foundation Plan.
- If a student wishes to test in a language other than the one they are enrolled in for LOTE, the student must pay the testing fee ($20).
- If a student wishes to re-test in the same language, they must pay the testing fee ($20).
- Campuses have the discretion to provide testing dates for language testing from August 1st to the last Friday in April.
- In accordance with Board Policy, students must retain all credits earned through language testing. Once a student receives credit(s) through language testing, they can only enroll in a language course beyond the course credits they have received. Auditing a high school credit-bearing course for which the student has already earned credit is permitted with the approval of the Grade Placement Committee, although there will be no new grade for the repeated course, only an “NG” (meaning no grade) listed on the transcript. Please note that this request is only considered when there is available space in the class. Students who must earn credit for the course will be the scheduling priority.
- Avant Assessment STAMP 4S Prep
- Avant Assessment STAMP WS Prep
- STAMP 4sTest Taker Guide
- Test Taker/Parent Guide
- Video Tutorials:
*STAndards-based Measurement of Proficiency
**Reading, Writing, and Speaking
HIGH SCHOOL ONLY
- If a high school student wishes to test in a language not available with Avant Testing, other language testing options are available:
- Oral Proficient Interview (OPI) Grades 9-12: The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is a valid and reliable means of assessing how well a person speaks a language. The OPI is proficiency-based. It assesses the ability to use language effectively and appropriately in real-life situations. It assesses spontaneous, unrehearsed language. The OPI is a 20-30 minute one-on-one interview between a certified ACTFL tester and an examinee. It is interactive and speaker centered, which means that each OPI is a unique experience. The tester will adjust their approach to the OPI based on the evidence of proficiency they are able to identify in the test taker’s performance. Like any conversation, there is an interactive negotiation of meaning between the 2 participants—the tester and the test taker.
- OPI Languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian/Khmer, Cantonese Chinese***, Cebuano, Czech, Dari***, Dutch, Ewe, Georgian, Greek (Modern), Gujarati***, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Kazakh, Krio, Kurdish-Sorani, Lao, Lingala, Malay, Malayalam***, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Pashto***, Persian Farsi***, Punjabi, Romanian, Serbian/Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Swedish, Tajik, Thai***, Uighur, and Uzbek.
*** Several Testing Options are available. Approval Needed.
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- Depending on their score, the tester may earn up to TWO credits in LOTE with an OPI.
- Credits earned via an OPI are not used as part of GPA or Class Rank.
- Getting Ready: The ACTFL OPI is designed to assess spontaneous unrehearsed language ability; ACTFL does not provide practice materials for this reason. Test takers can, however, further familiarize themselves with the test format by reviewing the ACTFL OPI Examinee Handbook. ACTFL also provides suggestions for test takers and for educators.
- Our district will fund language testing only for language credits counting toward that student’s graduation requirement under the Foundation Plan.
- If a student wishes to test with an OPI in a language other than the one they are enrolled in for LOTE, the student must pay the testing fee ($145).
- Combo: An OPI and WPT (Writing Proficiency Test)
- This Assessment appropriate for high school juniors and seniors (grades 11 & 12).
- Depending on their scores, the tester may earn up to FOUR credits in LOTE
- The Combo is only available each Spring from January to May.
- Languages Available (Subject to change): Albanian, Bangla, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Croatian, Dari, Gujarati, Malayalam, Pashto, and Thai.
- The tester will take an OPI (See description above) and a WPT: The WPT is an assessment of functional writing ability in a language. WPT tasks address the presentational and interpersonal modes of communication. It measures how well a person spontaneously writes in a language (without access to revisions and/or editing tools) by comparing his/her performance of specific writing tasks with the criteria stated in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing.
- WPT Format:
Introduction and Warm-Up: The WPT introduction contains directions, information on test-taking strategies, and a warm-up activity that targets the Novice proficiency level.
Prompts: The ACTFL WPT includes four prompts for written responses dealing with practical, social, and academic topics that are encountered in informal and formal contexts. Each prompt contains 2 to 3 tasks.
Tasks & Contexts: The writer is presented with tasks and contexts that represent the range of proficiency levels from Novice Low to Advanced Mid on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Writing.
Prompts: The WPT prompts are written in English; the responses are written in the target language.
Time: The average time examinees typically take to complete all WPT prompts ranges from 30 – 40 minutes.
Demo: The WPT demo site.
ACTFL OPI & WPT Examinee Handbook (With samples)
- Credits earned via a Combo are not used as part of GPA or Class Rank.
- Our district will fund language testing only for language credits counting toward that student’s graduation requirement under the Foundation Plan.
- If a student wishes to test with a combo in a language other than the one they are enrolled in for LOTE, the student must pay the testing fee ($55).