It’s that time of year at Wildcat Spanish… testing. Yuck! 🙂
Since 2014, Illinois has offered a two-tiered State Seal of Biliteracy program. The lower tier, the State Commendation toward Biliteracy, is awarded to any student who demonstrates Intermediate Low + level of proficiency in all 4 skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). The higher tier, the State Seal of Biliteracy, is awarded to any student who demonstrates Intermediate High + level of proficiency in all 4 skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening).
In addition, the Global Seal of Biliteracy offers a THREE tiered approach with awards at Intermediate Mid (Functional Fluency), Advanced Low (Working Fluency), and Advanced High (Professional Fluency).
For years, we did a Spanish Club fundraiser in the fall so we could pay the $5 toward our students’ AAPPL reading/listening test and offer them the option of completing the test for $15. Every year, I was so disappointed by the inconsistencies in the scoring of speaking and writing. A student who clearly deserved a Novice High would receive an Intermediate High and a student that clearly deserved an Intermediate High would receive an Intermediate Low. One time, I had an entire CLASS PERIOD rated Intermediate Low on writing whether they wrote a couple of sentences or 5 paragraphs. It was maddening. SO MANY RETAKES.
This year, we sold PopTarts in my classroom for the entire first semester. Once it caught on, we couldn’t keep the flavors in stock… and the money rolled in. This year, I was able to purchase the entire STAMP test for every student in Spanish 3 and 4! The scores aren’t all in, but they’re 75% back and they are dead on what I know the students’ performance is in class. I am so glad we made the switch. As an added bonus, AAPPL only tests to Advanced Low and STAMP to Advanced Mid on writing and speaking, Advanced High on reading and listening so kids can really get some off the charts scores if they’re high flyers.
I love being able to give them these micro-credentials to carry on to the university level or to the workforce. It’s such an encouragement to them to know where they are and where they’re headed next! But keep in mind, not everyone is a strong test taker! The scores may ebb and flow based on who you have in class. My son graduated high school with a 4.0 because he is great in classwork, but got a very mediocre SAT score because he doesn’t test well… your worth, your class’s worth is not in the number of awards you give!
I can’t wait to see the rest of our scores come in (plus there are a few who are really motivated by their overall scores and would like to retake one section just to try to level up their credential level). STAMP didn’t let us down… and it even lets our dual credit students who earn the State Seal of Biliteracy go from 8 semester hours of credit to 12 for their proficiency!! Let us know if you have any questions about our testing program!