Choosing a language assessment is an important decision. The right test can help educators understand what learners can do, guide instruction, support program goals, and give students meaningful evidence of their language proficiency. As schools prepare for a new academic year, here are several questions to consider when selecting a language assessment.
Continue reading
Every August, world language teachers begin the year with the same challenge: discerning where their students are today, including what they’ve learned last year, what they’ve inevitably forgotten over the summer, and how to help them make meaningful progress over the months ahead. The goal of Back-to-School planning isn’t to prove that students have already […]
Continue reading
One of the quiet pitfalls in education is that students often begin sorting themselves into categories long before we do. “I’m good at languages.” “I’m bad at languages.” And their parents, I find, sometimes affirm one of the two positions with statements such as: “She’s one of the smart kids.” “He’ll never sound fluent anyway.”
Continue reading
Why ACTFL Assessments Are the Gold Standard in Higher Education Language Assessment When it comes to language assessment, accuracy of scoring and credibility are non-negotiable. For institutions making key decisions about student placement, waiver, and graduation requirements, ACTFL assessments are one of the most trusted measures of language abilities globally. Delivered exclusively through Language Testing International® (LTI), ACTFL assessments are the only tests that deliver ACTFL scores and […]
Continue reading
In my line of work, I often have to deal with two sides of education – explaining content to students, and then interpreting matters to parents. The two can often follow similar paths, but because contact with parents can be infrequent and fleeting, I try to give family members a bird’s eye view of the student’s educational plan; meanwhile, the pupil […]
Continue reading
An FAQ for Educators, Administrators, and Assessment Leaders about the Machine Scoring System for the Spanish AAPPL Presentational Writing and Interpersonal Listening and Speaking As AI becomes more visible in education, machine scoring is gaining attention in language assessment. But one fact is often overlooked: not all automated scoring systems are built with the same […]
Continue reading
My fellow educators and I did an interesting exercise at a workshop entitled “Chairing Your Department” that was both cynically eye-opening and kind of hilarious; they had us all put our schools’ description for what a successful graduate of ________ (insert whatever your school’s name is here) can do, the skills they’ve mastered, and the […]
Continue reading
I’ve always been a left-brained math and science guy who loves rules, systems, and geometric proofs, which is why I’ve never quite understood my own proclivity towards the humanities, literature, storytelling, and languages. And yet, since the myth of brain hemispheres has long been debunked, why has no one exorcised the lingering haunts that foreign […]
Continue reading
“So, if I just memorize all the vocabulary, I’ll be fine, right?” “Exactly how many questions will be on the quiz?” “I’m so cooked for this test; I don’t understand anything.” “How many sentences should I write?” I hear manifestations of anxiety like these all the time in the days leading up to an assessment. […]
Continue reading
What is Perkins V? Perkins V (officially Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act) provides federal funding to states and local school districts to strengthen career and technical education (CTE). The legislation emphasizes raising both academic and technical outcomes for CTE students, improving alignment between secondary and postsecondary education, and increasing accountability. Through Perkins V, states and […]
Continue reading