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Avant Assessment's Dagmar Haney awarded CCFLT honors. Read more
Avant Assessment Appoints Two Executives to Board of Directors. Read more
LLS Becomes Avant Assessment. Read more
LLS Testing for STARTALK. Read more

STAMP Test Drives Oregon K-16 Chinese Flagship Language Initiative. Read more

January 10, 2006

On Thursday, January 5, 2006, the White House unveiled the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI). At a media roundtable, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Dr. David Chu said, "One of the things the Initiative will do... is to underwrite... K-12 programs in important foreign languages. We did fund through the National Security Education Program the first such program, in Oregon. There's a great story out there. I'd encourage those of you who aren't familiar with it to get it..."

Dr. Chu was referring to the Chinese K-16 Language Initiative in Oregon. The Initiative is a groundbreaking language education program overseen by Language Learning Solutions' (LLS) partner, the University of Oregon's Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS). CASLS is working with Portland Public Schools (PPS) to provide Oregon students with world-class language education from kindergarten through college.

LLS is proud to contribute to the Initiative by delivering the STAMP assessment to students in the program. STAMP, the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency, is a Web-based language proficiency assessment created by CASLS. It is at the heart of the Oregon model, and is delivered to classrooms and supported and managed by LLS. STAMP is leading the trend towards proficiency-oriented, statistically validated, online language assessment.

"STAMP is what we will use to measure student performance throughout the program," said PPS Immersion Coordinator Michael Bacon. "It will be the backbone of our program evaluation, articulation and individual counseling for students and parents. We will also use the results to focus professional development for our teachers."

"The Initiative is about creating a generation of leaders with linguistic, cultural and academic training to lead the U.S.-China relationship in the 21st century," said CASLS Director Dr. Carl Falsgraf. "That relationship needs leaders in diverse fields who speak, read and write Chinese fluently, and this program will produce those kinds of graduates."

"LLS is proud of the role it will play in this important initiative for U.S. language education," said LLS President John Haakanson. "With our extensive experience delivering online language assessments to classrooms nationwide, we are well positioned to contribute to the success of NSLI."

About Language Learning Solutions

LLS (www.onlinells.com) is a recognized pioneer in Web-delivered assessment in the foreign language and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) fields. In a unique public-private partnership, LLS works closely with the University of Oregon's Center for Applied Second Language Studies. This partnership capitalizes on the University's research power, coupled with a responsive business entity to deliver grant-developed tools, created by educators, for educators. Over 60 educational partners in 25 states use LLS' Web-based language proficiency assessment and instructional support tools for such diverse purposes as standards review, federal reporting requirements, placement and articulation, credit granting and professional development.

New Jersey Department of Education to Use STAMP Test Statewide. Read more

July 14, 2005

The New Jersey Department of Education has received a $434,072 federal grant for an innovative three-year project to assess the progress eighth graders are making in learning other languages.

DOE plans to test 60,000 students studying French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese and Japanese. Approximately 20,000 students will be tested at the end of each school year.

The results will be used as baseline data in the development of a statewide world languages assessment and to create professional development programs for educators to help them teach languages more effectively.

Officials estimate that about half of the state's 600 school districts will participate in the assessment at some point during the project. In three pilot districts - Englewood, Newark and Millville - eighth grade language students will be tested every year for the next three years.

New Jersey's proposed project was the largest of eleven state awards recently funded by the US Department of Education's (USED) Foreign Language Assistance program.

"Our project will be the most ambitious, wide-ranging world languages testing program underway in the country," said Acting Governor Richard J. Codey.

"There was a great deal of competition for this grant money and we are very pleased that the federal government judged our application so favorably. We think the results we get from these assessments will make a real difference in the way teachers teach and students learn other languages in this state," the Governor said.

Commissioner of Education William L. Librera noted that it is "generally acknowledged that here in the United States, we don't pay enough attention to the way we deal with the teaching of languages other than English. That means we are not giving our students all the tools they will need to compete in the global economy that will exist when they are ready to join the workforce.

"In other countries, instruction in world languages is a high priority, and they know how to do it very well. We have a lot of catching up to do, and this grant should be a major asset to our efforts,' Commissioner Librera said.

Janis Jensen, DOE's World Languages coordinator, said another problem is that the quality and effectiveness of language instruction curricula and teaching, both in New Jersey and throughout the country, varies widely.

"Too often, students who have received high grades in French or Spanish for several years can read and write, but they still can't speak well enough to have a real conversation in Paris or Mexico City," she said. "The results of this assessment will help determine which instruction protocols have the most positive impact on actual student achievement."

One of the most innovative aspects of New Jersey's plan is the testing method that will be used.

The STAMP (Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency) assessment is administered on-line, and includes a speaking component that engages students in real-world situations, challenging them with authentic texts and oral tasks. It was developed by the Center for the Advanced Study of Languages in Oregon, one of 14 USED National Foreign Language Resource Centers.

"We field-tested it with 500 students last spring and they loved it," Jensen said. "It's not some old-fashioned mechanical test. It's the kind of real-time, interactive experience that young people today find very natural, thanks to video games and on-line activities.

"They get a chance to speak, not just write, and their progress in learning the language is rated according to national guidelines, not just against the performances of the other kids in their own classes. There is also a quick turnaround in reporting very detailed results, so that both teachers and students can see how well they did," she said.

DOE officials are currently establishing the procedures under which districts can participate in the larger program. Jensen said the details will be available in September and that the actual testing of the first 20,000 students will take place in the late spring of next year.

The USED grant application also required the states to partner with specific school districts for pilot projects to generate in-depth analysis of the methods used in the teaching and learning of world languages. DOE selected Englewood, Newark and Millville as three districts in different parts of the state with different student demographics and different types of established language programs to be part of the pilot.

"We will be working closely with these districts' language departments and testing their eighth-graders every year," said Jensen. "This will provide us with very valuable longitudinal information that can measure changes in proficiency as we adjust the instructional protocols."

For more information on the content of this news release, please contact the New Jersey DOE Office of Public Information at 609-292-1126.

http://www.state.nj.us/njded/news/2005/0714wl.htm

STAMP in UN Schools. Read more

Oregon Department of Education Awards English Assessment Contract to LLS. Read more

April 21, 2005

The Office of Assessment and Information Services is pleased to announce that a contractor has been chosen to assist the department in the development of Oregon's English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment. Language Learning Services (LLS), a Eugene-based company, has been awarded an Intent to Contract to implement a web-based, assessment delivery system. As part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, states are required to measure and report the progress of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in learning English. In Oregon there are approximately 61,000 LEP students.

LLS is a familiar face in Oregon. They have worked with several Oregon school districts providing web-based delivery of foreign language assessments. They are also currently working with Minnesota Department of Education on a web-based delivery system for listening and speaking assessments of LEP students.

LLS has the expertise and manpower to make the ELP Assessment happen. ODE's goal is to work closely with LLS to ensure that Oregon has a high quality ELP assessment and to ensure a seamless interface between ODE and the contractor. It is essential that districts, schools, teachers and students have a positive experience with this new assessment.

The goal of the partnership is to achieve an assessment that is efficient, a delivery system that is user-friendly, uses a minimal amount of resources in the field and at the same time, measures the ELP construct, is valid, reliable and interesting for students to take.

The scope of LLS services are to develop and implement a web-based delivery system, conduct additional item development, provide technical support during testing windows, training, pilot and field tests, develop scales and the performance standards process. They will a conduct a pilot of the assessment in May-June of 2005 with the help of five school districts.

We congratulate LLS on a successful proposal and look forward to working with them, along with the field, on the development of Oregon's ELP assessment.

For more information go to: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=256.

Delaware Uses STAMP for Statewide Standards Review. Read more

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