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Greetings!
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Congratulations
on the completion of another school year, and thank you for your part in
administering STAMP and introducing STAMP to your colleagues. Avant has been
pleased to see the growth in use of STAMP across the country, especially in
assessing Chinese proficiency.
This
issue of the STAMP newsletter brings you helpful tools and stories about the
use of assessments to build language proficiency. We'll introduce you to new STAMP Reporting
Guides to help interpret your class and district data. You'll learn about
state-wide initiatives to build foreign language proficiency under the Federal
Language Flagship program. You'll see the implications from the CASLS New
Jersey Grade 8 Assessment Project. And, you'll be inspired by the Spotlight on You story from Diane
DeNoon of Blue Valley
School District in Kansas.
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New STAMP Tools
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Please use the new STAMP Benchmarks,
Scoring Rubric and Reporting Guide available on the Avant Assessment STAMP pages.
The Benchmarks will help you and your students understand expectations about
the various levels of proficiency. The Scoring Rubric provides insight into
how the STAMP test is scored in relation to the Benchmarks. The STAMP Reporting
Guide gives you a step-by-step path to viewing and interpreting your whole
class and individual student results, and provides links for you to read/hear your
students' actual writing and speaking responses.
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State Level Initiatives Moving Towards Proficiency-Based Models
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In
the last newsletter, we reported on the active role that Avant and CASLS leaders played in the
development of Oregon's Roadmap to Language Excellence. Two other states, Ohio and Texas,
were also selected by the Federal Language Flagship program to bring
government, education, and business leaders together to develop statewide
action plans for foreign language proficiency. Follow these links to learn more
about those unique Roadmaps to Language Excellence and associated Timelines
developed by Texas and Ohio.
Avant
Assessment recognizes that State efforts to shape policy supporting increased
language proficiency are not limited to these federally funded programs. Please
send us
your stories and strategies to share with your colleagues in future issues of
this newsletter.
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STAMP Data in Research for Language Educators
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Avant
Assessment's research partner, The Center for Applied Second Language Studies
at the University of Oregon (CASLS) has presented their findings from the first
two years (2005-2006 and 2006-2007) of the New Jersey Grade Eight Pilot Assessment FLAP Grant
Project. The FLAP Grant is the Foreign Language Assistance Program for elementary and secondary schools funded by
the United States Department of Education.
With over
37,000 students tested during the first two years of the three year study, this ambitious research is
the largest data collection event in second languages at the 8th grade level
ever undertaken in the United
States. The basic quest was to determine
what factors contribute to success in meeting New Jersey's standard of Novice-High
proficiency by the end of 8th grade.
Results demonstrated duration and intensity of language instruction as
key factors.
Specifically, a minimum of 540 hours (e.g, 5 hrs/week for 3 school
years) of instruction was shown to produce consistent success in meeting the New Jersey standard of
Novice-High. Additional findings showed that speaking proficiency was consistently
higher than reading, and that speaking scores were comparable across all socio-economic
status (SES) levels while reading scores for low SES students lagged considerably. As
results from 2008 are compiled and combined with previous years, this research
will be updated and available at CASLS .
Another CASLS project that we announced in our last newsletter involves identifying your most burning questions related to language acquisition, and then answering them using a combination of original research and literature review. What are your burning questions? Please send them along to Linda Forrest at CASLS.
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Startalk 2008 Programs
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The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland Teacher has listings of dozens of STARTALK programs for teachers and students across the country. STARTALK is a national initiative that seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of
strategically important world languages. STARTALK 2008 Teacher Programs offer professional development for language teachers, and STARTALK 2008 Student Programs offer students opportunities to develop and improve their linguistic and cultural competence. You can peruse the programs available in your area of interest at the STARTALK Web-site.
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Where in the World - Avant Around the Globe
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Avant
Assessment has been on the road sharing examples of successful language
proficiency models supported by consistent standards-based assessments. In
addition to regional spring conferences such as NECTFL and SWCOLT, Avant
leaders have been seen providing training and working with language leaders in
Europe and Asia.
Additionally, Avant is pleased to share the news
that Ms. Dagmar Haney, Avant's Language Specialist for the Southwest
United States, was recently honored by the Board of Directors of
the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers (CCFLT) with the prestigious
Genevieve Overman Memorial Service Award. This annual award recognizes the
significant dedication and contributions by a world language educator, both
within the teaching profession and in service to the CCFLT. Congratulations,
Dagmar!
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Spotlight on You
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Diane DeNoon, World Language Coordinator Blue Valley School District, Kansas
Avant Assessment is pleased to publish this
Spotlight on You story celebrating your colleague, Diane DeNoon, World Language Coordinator from Blue Valley School District, Kansas.
Blue Valley
School District's path to a proficiency-based
world language program began twelve years ago with a commitment to move the
after-school model of language instruction to one that provided continuous
progress for all students beginning in grade school. That commitment was
immediately supported by the development of an integrated Elementary curriculum
(there were no commercial options available in the mid-1990s). The dramatic
shift, led by Diane
DeNoon, has resulted in a district of over 20,000 students, where all K-6
students learn either French or Spanish and over 83% of all district students
are active in French, Spanish, German, or Latin. How did Blue Valley
accomplish this shift? Discover the whole story (and others as the collection grows) at http://www.avantassessment.com/about/spotlight.html.
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