lentz_assessment options for world language proficiency certificates, bilingual and multilingual...

Assessment Options for World Language Proficiency Certificates, Bilingual and Multilingual Seals

MELEd Conference

November 7, 2015

Ursula Lentz

Goal

• Brief background for legislation

• Explore available resources for development of ACTFL-aligned assessments for languages for which no ACTFL based proficiency assessments are available by:

– Considering ACTFL proficiency levels

– Assessment principles

• Discuss options for assessment development

Legislation

2015 Legislature amended Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 120B.022, subdivision 1a and 1b https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=120B.022

World language proficiency certificates

Bilingual and multilingual seals

High school elective credit

College credit

Bilingual and Multilingual Seals

LEAPS Legislation: Recognizes home languages as an asset

2015 Amendments created two levels of seals

• Gold – Intermediate-High (IH)

• Platinum – Advanced-Low (AL)

Requirements: All modalities (Reading, writing, listening, speaking)

Based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines on a valid assessment for reading, writing, listening and speaking

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Other Requirements

(b) In addition to paragraph (a), to be eligible to receive a seal:

(1) students must satisfactorily complete all required English language arts credits; and

(2) students must demonstrate mastery of Minnesota's English language proficiency standards.

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Credits Awarded

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Upon enrollment and student request within 3 years of earning a seal(s) or certificate

Certificates, Seals Level Credits

World language proficiency certificate

Intermediate-Low

2 semesters

Gold bilingual or multilingual seal

Intermediate-High

3 semesters per language

Platinum bilingual or multilingual seal

Advanced-Low 4 semesters per language

Who can be Awarded Seals or Certificates?

Any student who can demonstrate the required proficiency levels are eligible to receive Bilingual

Seals and World Language Proficiency Certificates.

4/11/2015 http://www3.canisius.edu/~itsdocs/CST/Gifted_CST_Review/Gifted_CST_Review_print.html

Assessment Options

• Advanced Placement Exam • International Baccalaureate Exam • Oral Proficiency Interview, Reading Proficiency Test, or

Writing Proficiency Test • Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP4S) • ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in

Languages (AAPPL) • Tribal language assessments • Signed Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) for American

Sign Language • ACTFL Latin Interpretive Reading Exam (ALIRA) • Other assessments correlated to the required minimum

level of language proficiency.

4/11/2015

Assessments

4/11/2015 http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/EdExc/StanCurri/K-12AcademicStandards/WorldLang/index.html

What Do Other States Use/Require?

National Guidelines for Seals (http://www.actfl.org/news/press-releases/seal-biliteracy-guidelines-released)( • Advanced Placement Exam • International Baccalaureate Exam • Oral Proficiency Interview, Reading Proficiency Test, or Writing

Proficiency Test • Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP4S) • ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages

(AAPPL) • Tribal language assessments • Signed Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) for American Sign

Language • ACTFL Latin Interpretive Reading Exam (ALIRA) • Other assessments correlated to the required minimum level of

language proficiency.

4/11/2015

• Students take assessments

• By end of April school requests seals from MDE

• Form on MDE site – Signed by principal

• Student diploma can show seal, transcript must have seal (or notation- space issue)

• Student requests seal when admitted-within 3 years of receiving the seal

Seal Logistics

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• Students take assessments

• By end of April school requests seals from MDE

• Form on MDE site – Signed by principal

• Student diploma can show seal, transcript must have seal (or notation- space issue)

• Student requests seal when admitted-within 3 years of receiving the seal

Seal Logistics

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What if there are no Proficiency

Assessments for the languages our students speak?

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Possible Resources from Other States which offer Seals

• Other states provide high school credit for seals

• Some states provide seals only for languages which can be assessed using an available ACTFL-based proficiency assessment

“Where valid and reliable assessments are unavailable, a school district or charter school may rely on evaluators trained in assessing under ACTFL proficiency guidelines to assess a student's level of foreign, heritage, or indigenous language proficiency under this section.”

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=120B.022

For languages for which there are no proficiency assessments available:

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WAIT, WHAT?!.....

Challenges – Who?

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Challenges

• Test Development Process

• Native Speakers with appropriate language level and time

• Training on ACTFL guidelines

• Appropriate Model

• Resources for developing the assessment and Rating Criteria

• Validity (does it test what is intended and at the correct level?) – Reading, writing, listening, speaking (exemption, ASL) – Intermediate- Low, Intermediate-High, Advanced-Low

• Practicality (time to develop, administer and rate the assessment vs. the number of test takers and resources)

• Reliability

Considerations in Developing Assessments

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– Scoring and administration method

– Number of test administrators

– Test Type

– Knowledge of ACTFL Proficiency Level Characteristics and what they mean in a task

Considerations

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Breath, Depth, Range of Topics, Text Types

and Tasks, Rating

• Determined by

– Appropriateness for the level

– ACTFL proficiency guidelines

– Specific language characteristics

But Wait - There’s More

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What does Proficiency Look Like?

At:

Intermediate-Low

Intermediate-High

Advanced-Low

Speaking, Writing, Listening, Reading

English version ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines

http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012/english

A Very Short Summary of ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines

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ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines

Describe:

Tasks speakers/writers/ readers/ listeners can handle at each level, the content, context, accuracy, and discourse types associated with tasks at each level.

The limits that speakers/writers/ readers/ listeners encounter when attempting to function at the next higher major level.

http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012

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ACTFL Proficiency Levels

Compare to WIDA ELD Framework: Focus

not specific to academic language.

Intermediate-Low: Speakers can handle limited uncomplicated communication by creating with the language in straightforward social situations.

Concrete exchanges and predictable topics; basic personal information; self and family, some daily activities, personal preferences, some immediate needs, such as ordering food and other purchases.

Proficiency Level Characteristics

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26

Intermediate-Low Speaking continued

Speakers are primarily reactive, struggle to answer direct questions or requests for information. They can ask a few appropriate questions.

Are generally understood by sympathetic listeners, particularly by those accustomed to dealing with non-natives.

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Intermediate-High

Speakers can handle familiar topics dealing with routine tasks and social situations with ease. Can narrate in all time frames. Understood by native speakers.

Level required for a world language teacher licensure in MN

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• Intermediate High – converse with ease for social situations and routine tasks. Narrate in major timeframes. Uses some connected sentences (discourse).

• Can be understood by native speakers; may have gaps in communication.

Intermediate-High

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• Advanced-Low – can handle a wide variety of communicative tasks. Participate in informal and limited formal conversations related to home, school and some work, current events, public and personal interest.

Proficiency Level Characteristics

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Advanced-Low

Speakers: participate in most informal and some formal conversations, including employment, current events and public and community interests. (ACTFL)

Connected discourse, paragraph length. Can converse with accuracy, precision and clarity. Can handle abstract topics.

Understood by native speakers

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Writers at the Intermediate Low sublevel are able to meet some limited practical writing needs. They can create statements and formulate questions based on familiar material. Most sentences are recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures. These are short and simple conversational-style sentences with basic word order. They are written almost exclusively in present time. Writing tends to consist of a few simple sentences, often with repetitive structure. Topics are tied to highly predictable content areas and personal information. Vocabulary is adequate to express elementary needs. There may be basic errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, spelling, and in the formation and use of non-alphabetic symbols. Their writing is understood by natives used to the writing of non-natives, although additional effort may be required. When Intermediate Low writers attempt to perform writing tasks at the Advanced level, their writing will deteriorate significantly and their message may be left incomplete. - See more at: http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012/english/writing#intermediate

Writing: Intermediate Low

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Writers at the Intermediate High sublevel are able to meet all practical writing needs of the Intermediate level. Additionally, they can write compositions and simple summaries related to work and/or school experiences. They can narrate and describe in different time frames when writing about everyday events and situations. These narrations and descriptions are often, but not always, of paragraph length, and they typically contain some evidence of breakdown in one or more features of the Advanced level. For example, these writers may be inconsistent in the use of appropriate major time markers, resulting in a loss of clarity. The vocabulary, grammar and style of Intermediate High writers essentially correspond to those of the spoken language. Intermediate High writing, even with numerous and perhaps significant errors, is generally comprehensible to natives not used to the writing of non-natives, but there are likely to be gaps in comprehension.

Writing: Intermediate High

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Writers are able to meet basic work and/or academic writing needs. They demonstrate the ability to narrate and describe in major time frames with some control of aspect. They are able to compose simple summaries on familiar topics. Advanced Low writers are able to combine and link sentences into texts of paragraph length and structure. Their writing, while adequate to satisfy the criteria of the Advanced level, may not be substantive. Writers at the Advanced Low sublevel demonstrate the ability to incorporate a limited number of cohesive devices, and may resort to some redundancy and awkward repetition. They rely on patterns of oral discourse and the writing style of their first language. These writers demonstrate minimal control of common structures and vocabulary associated with the Advanced level. Their writing is understood by natives not accustomed to the writing of non-natives, although some additional effort may be required in the reading of the text. When attempting to perform functions at the Superior level, their writing will deteriorate significantly.

Writing: Advanced Low

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Why are Instructions In English?

• Separates the task from the directions

• For ELs the instructions can be a problem

Challenges and Issues

• Native English speaking students have directions in English – Do students being assessed for a language need

direction in their home language?

– Does the requirement to be proficient in English play a role for the seals?

The Grids provide a “summary” of essential characteristics and text types.

The Grids provide a “summary” of essential characteristics and text types.

Samples of Levels

ACTFL Proficiency Level samples in English

• http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012/english

• http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012/english/speaking

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnxSzCmVYjk

Available frameworks and models to assess

students' language levels

• Modified OPI as a model using ACTFL guidelines as a guide Speaking

• ELPAC (MLPA Model) – using ACTFL guidelines as a guide

• Integrated Performance Assessment Framework (ACTFL developed)

• CLEAR: http://clear.msu.edu/clear/ – http://clear.msu.edu/assessment/ppt/SUN-

Best%20Practices%20Guidelines%20for%20LCTL%20Assessment.htm

– http://clear.msu.edu/assessment/current-projects/online-speaking-tests-for-lctls/

Resources:

What am I assessing: CARLA Virtual Assessment Center

Specification Grids (Alice Omaggio)

CLEAR Assessment Development http://clear.msu.edu/assessment/current-projects/online-speaking-tests-for-lctls/

Proficiency Assessment Models

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http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/MLPA/pdfs/Speaking_Writing_Tasks_Guide.pdf

http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/MLPA/pdfs/Speaking_Writing_Tasks_Guide.pdf

Sample Writing Model

• Contextualized

• More than one writing task

• All task target the same level

• Responses scored on a “there, not there” rubric with multiple criteria

• Legislation requires those testing to be ACTFL- trained

• MDE is working on ways to assist in test development.

Details will be in EL coordinator newsletter

How Can Districts Develop Assessments?

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Questions? Comments?

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Thank you

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Mahadsanid, Asante