Whew! That’s all I can say. It’s been a fast February and first week of March because I was juggling so many different things. I am exhausted, but so pleased with all we got done in a short period of time!

In Spanish 2, we were engaged in our El espíritu de Xólotl book club (find out more here). Mid-month, I inducted a whopping 44 new Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica members. Spanish 3 and 4 ended the month with their STAMP testing to try to earn some microcredentials they can use to leverage their language skills as they think about what’s next after high school. And after testing, Spanish 4 dove right into a cooking unit (more on that in my next post).

The first round of testing is nearly complete (we are waiting on a handful of scores from students who missed a day during testing), and we already have 51 Spanish 3 and 4 students receiving the Illinois State Commendation toward Biliteracy at Intermediate Low (a 4 on the STAMP) as a minimum score in all four domains (reading, listening, writing, and speaking), 14 Global Seal of Biliteracy recipients at Functional Fluency (Intermediate Mid, or a 5 on the STAMP) in all four domains, and two State Seal of Biliteracy awardees at Intermediate High, or a 6 on the STAMP.

Some students are very consistent in their scoring.

Others show stronger and weaker areas.

STAMP allows students to retake one section of the test, so the student in my second photo has chosen to retake writing because, based on the feedback provided by STAMP, they feel that without the exhaustion of a five-day testing marathon they have a solid plan for reaching their goal of earning the Global Seal.

These tests are not truly a reflection of language proficiency. It is more accurate to say (as AAPPL includes in its name) that they measure performance toward proficiency. The OPI is the truest test of proficiency because it allows a tester to continually push the test taker into new situations to see where their language begins to break down and they are no longer able to communicate meaning.

Some things to coach students on before taking the test:

Reading and Listening: This test is adaptive. The better students do, the harder the prompts become. These longer, more complex prompts check whether students can identify main ideas and key details in authentic texts. Students will not—and are not expected to—understand every word (unless they are operating at very high levels of proficiency). It helps to remind them that these challenging prompts are actually opportunities to demonstrate higher levels of proficiency. Rather than focusing on the words they don’t understand, they should concentrate on the pieces they do understand so they can identify the main idea and important details.

Writing and Speaking: Students need to do three things well, and surprisingly, none of them is “being perfect.” Perfect language is not possible for an intermediate learner. At this level, mistakes are expected and developmentally appropriate. Sometimes those mistakes may require a reader to reread a sentence to grasp the meaning (at lower intermediate levels), or they may reflect influence from a student’s first language through literal translation (even up through low advanced). That is normal. Instead, students should focus on three goals: notice when they should use present, past, and future and do their best to mark time clearly; answer every part of the prompt; and use transitions or connecting words to add detail and extend their responses. The more language they produce, the more evidence a scorer has to determine their proficiency level.

My students (and I’m sure yours too) are very quick to listen to themselves speak, delete their recording, and try again. There are two problems with this strategy on the STAMP. First, they can only re-record one time, so repeatedly stopping and starting wastes that opportunity. Second, a strong sign that students are moving into intermediate proficiency is the ability to hear themselves make a mistake and self-correct. What they may see as a flaw is actually evidence of growth. If their sentences are short and “perfect,” it may mean they are relying on novice-level language instead of pushing themselves to express more complex ideas.

Remember: STAMP data from 2024–25 shows that students across the board score highest in reading and listening and lowest in writing and speaking. A student who earns a 4 or 5 in speaking in year four is right in line with the national average. A student who scores a 3 or 4 is also very much within the expected range. Scores above that are fantastic, but most students will land somewhere within those national averages.

I anticipate that after retakes we will add a couple more State and Global Seals and likely 3–4 additional State Commendations. Being able to offer these microcredentials is a great way to encourage students to continue language study, recognize students who are making strong progress year over year, and give them meaningful accomplishments to include on college and scholarship applications.

Check out STAMP here: https://www.avantassessment.com/tests/stamp/4s
The Global Seal here: https://globalseal.org
State Seal opportunities here: https://sealofbiliteracy.org/ and https://theglobalseal.com/state-resources

I would encourage you to consider taking the STAMP in languages you’re learning as well! I just finished taking it in French and I hope that (once my writing and speaking scores come back), my students will be able to see that the same applies to me as to them. My receptive skills are MUCH stronger than my productive skills! (BTW I learned French by reading Fluency Matters – now Wayside Publishing – readers as I uploaded content to The Learning Site). I am currently enrolled in Ben Tinsley’s beginner French class, but it is my first formal class since my one semester of high school French in 1987. (It’s too late to join this class, but there will be more. Keep an eye on Ben’s website! If my HS class had been like this, I would never have dropped out after one semester.)

If you question whether readers for learners do anything for your students… I am proof that they do. If I were using them in a classroom where I had the opportunity to write about and discuss them, I’m sure my productive skills would have grown higher than they are as well, but I feel like I’m going to land in the intermediate level somewhere on production too! I knew a lot of what I wanted to say, I just need a teacher to help guide me to how!