World Language Credit Testing @ Aki

Taking Place March 20th and 21st

World Language Assessment for Students Who Acquired Language Proficiency Outside the Classroom

Aki Kurose Middle School will offer world language testing to 8th grade multilingual learners. Please read below information first and register to test if interested. The link for 8th graders to register for world language competency test and the link for 7th graders to share their interest are included at the bottom of this article.

8th grade multilingual students can earn high school foreign language credits? How does it work?

Step 1: Determine if you’re eligible

Take a moment to think about your current language skills in the language that you wish to be tested in (not English). If you can answer “Yes, I can do this fairly easily” to each statement, then you will probably be able to earn at least 1-2 credits when you take the language test. If you can answer “Yes, I can do this very easily” to all of the statements, then you may be able to earn 3-4 credits when you get tested.

• I can understand ideas on familiar topics expressed through phrases, short sentences, and frequently used expressions. [Listening]
• I can understand the main idea and some details in simple texts that contain familiar vocabulary. [Reading]
• I can exchange information with another person about familiar tasks, topics and activities. [Person-to-Person Communication]
• I can use a series of phrases and sentences to provide basic information about familiar topics. [Spoken Production]
• I can write simple descriptions and short messages and request or provide information on familiar topics. [Writing]

Step 2: Take the tests

Different languages use different tests. Find your language, then you’ll see which test(s) you need to sign up for. (On the website you’ll find a drop-down menu listing almost all of the languages and which tests they use.)

Visit OSPI > Students Earn Credits.

Learn more about the tests:

• Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) offered through Avant Assessment. (Try out the Sample Assessment Tests.) The STAMP test typically takes about 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours. It is not timed.
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Writing Proficiency Test (WPT), Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), OPI computer-based (OPIc), and ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency (AAPPL) offered through  Language Testing International (LTI).
• WorldSpeak offered through Avant Assessment. The format is similar to STAMP but just tests Writing and Speaking in Somali (Maay Maay and Maxaa), Tagalog, Vietnamese and several other languages.
• ALTA Writing Skills Assessment and Speaking and Listening Assessment offered through  ALTA Language Services.
• SLPI: Sign Language Proficiency Interview for American Sign Language (ASL) offered through North Carolina ASLTA.

Step 3: Get credit

After you complete the test(s) for your language, Seattle Schools should receive your test results within a few weeks. The Seattle Schools Office of MLL and International Programs will provide a letter indicating proficiency levels attained in the tested language and high school credit equivalencies based on the recommendations in the state’s Model Procedure for competency-based credits, which Seattle Schools adopted in 2011, as well as a copy of your test results. The student packet and a similar letter for the school will be sent to the school that you attend. Please contact the school counselor to receive your packet. Then arrange with the counselor for the credits to be added to your transcript. There are specific course codes that the counselor needs to enter foryour language.

Credit will be granted if students meet the following levels of proficiency across the language skills tested for each language:

• Novice Mid earns 1 credit
• Novice High earns 2 credits
• Intermediate Low earns 3 credits
• Intermediate Mid earns 4 credits

Note: If you qualify for 4 competency-based credits, that means you are considered “Proficient” in your language and you meet the language criterion for earning the Seal of Biliteracy. Your transcript will be updated to reflect that fact after your testing is complete. When you graduate, your transcript will be updated to show that the Seal of Biliteracy was “Earned” for your language.

Frequently Asked Question:

What languages can a student test in?

STAMP Assessment:

Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified & Traditional), Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, more languages being added soon.

WORLDSPEAK Assessment:

Amharic, Armenian, Chin (Hakha), Chuukese, Czech, English, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian-Creole, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Marathi, Marshallese, Samoan, Somali Maay Maay, Somali Maxaa, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yup’ik, more languages being added soon

ALTA Assessment:

Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Chuukese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, Fulani, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Jamaican Patois, Kannada, Karenni, Kurdish, Macedonian, Mongolian, Navajo, Nepali, Norwegian, Oromo, Pashto, Polish, Punjabi, Samoan, Serbian, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, Twi, Urdu, Uzbek, Wolof and others.

Do you speak a language that is not listed above? Please register and we will do our best to find a test for you.

Additional information about World Language Credit Testing. Also available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigringa, and Vietnamese. 

8th grade multilingual students, here’s the link to register for the world language competency test (March 20th and March 21st)

7th grade multilingual students, show your interest in taking the world language competency test when you get to 8th grade.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Fenglan Yi-Cline, ​Aki’s Head of Multilingual Department at fnyicline@seattleschools.org.