New Mexico State-Funded STAMP Testing

Avant Assessment for Bilingual Multicultural Education Programs (BMEPs)

Avant STAMP is the statewide Spanish language proficiency assessment for students enrolled in a state-funded bilingual multicultural education program (BMEP). The assessment is administered to students who have not yet reached proficiency in Spanish (Intermediate-Mid level on STAMP) in-person at school sites.

Approved Spanish Language Proficiency Assessments for BMEPs: 

STAMP 2Se
(2-Skills)

Listening and Speaking Grades K-1

STAMP 4Se (4 Skill)

Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking Grades 2-6

STAMP 4S (4-Skill)

Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking Grades 7-12

Avant SHL (Placement Test)

Vocabulary, Reading, Contextualized Grammar, Writing and Speaking Grades 7-12

For state-funded BMEP students to be identified as proficient, they must earn a minimum score of 5 (Intermediate-Mid) in all domains on the STAMP 4S assessment.

NMPED is covering the cost of once-a-year assessment of students enrolled in a state-funded BMEP who have not yet been identified as proficient (Level 5, Intermediate-Mid) in the Spanish Language through the annual assessment. All other testing conducted through Avant must be paid for by the district or charter school.

Testing Window

You will be able to assess students at any time during the state-funded testing window timeframe. The testing window for state-funded Avant STAMP assessment administration is Monday, December 21st, 2025 – Friday, May 8th, 2026. Please ensure all students in a state-funded Spanish BMEP, who have not yet scored at the proficient level, complete the Avant STAMP assessment by Friday, May 8th, 2026.

Test Quantity

Please determine your total test quantity estimate based upon current enrollment in the state funded BMEP. NMPED will approve each district and charter for a specific quantity as determined by the 40-day enrollment counts, but we recognize that enrollment may change throughout the year and that some students in the BMEP may have already achieved the desired proficiency score on previous annual assessments.

Setup Method 1: Steps for requesting access to the Avant STAMP test using Group Rostering:

For districts and charters that do not use Clever, we have a Group Rostering method that will allow you to control which students have access to the assessment. Rostering gives testing coordinators or teachers the ability to roster test takers into testing groups (classes) before testing begins. Rostering ensures the following:

  • Controlled access to the assessment (only rostered test takers can access the assessment)
  • Cleaner test taker data (prohibits test takers from creating more than one test instance, easier test taker identification within the report)
  • User-friendly experience for younger test takers with pre-filled fields within the profile screen

To request access to test with Group Rostering, please click here to complete this survey.

Group Rostering

 Please note: this process can take up to two weeks.

 For more information on the Group Rostering process, click here.

Avant Spanish for Heritage Learners (SHL) Assessment 

The Avant SHL test can be used as a screener at the secondary grades to measure Spanish language proficiency for students who are newcomers and who have Spanish as their dominant language. The SHL test will provide a suggested level of course placement for these students entering your program. The cost of such a screening at the secondary level is covered once per newcomer student by the NMPED. Elementary students who are newcomers and who have Spanish as the dominant language should use the STAMP 4Se assessment.

Testing for New Arrival Students (from Spanish speaking countries) in 7th – 12th grade who take the Avant STAMP as part of the state-funded BMEP:

  • In the Avant STAMP 4S assessment for grades 7 and above, the Reading and Listening section questions are in Novice to Intermediate level English.
  • Students in 7th grade and above taking STAMP 4S who are not yet at a 7th grade equivalency for their English proficiency, will require accommodations from a Spanish-speaking aide to complete the Reading and Listening sections of the test.
  • In the Avant STAMP 4S assessment for grades 7 and above, the Speaking and Writing section prompts are in written English with Spanish audio support.
  •  STAMP 4S Accommodations Guide – for assisting students who are not yet at a 7th grade equivalency for their English proficiency in the Reading and Listening sections of the test.

Avant SHL test as an alternate assessment option for New Arrival Students (from Spanish speaking countries) in 7th – 12th grade who are a part of the state-funded BMEP:

  • Using the Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) Test as a screener when they arrive at the district/charter to place them into an appropriate level course.

 Any New Arrival Students (from Spanish speaking countries) in grade 6 and below who take the Avant STAMP as part of the state-funded BMEP, will take the Avant STAMP 4Se assessment.

Avant STAMP Testing Resources

2024-2025 School Year

Avant Assessment for the New Mexico State Seal of Bilingualism-Biliteracy (SSBB)

NMPED is covering the cost of up to two assessments per student for high school Juniors and Seniors taking the test for the purposes of qualifying for the State Seal of Bilingualism and Biliteracy on the Diploma of Excellence. Only Districts and Charter Schools who have approved adoptions for the NM SSBB are eligible for state-funded SSBB testing.

The testing window for state-funded Avant STAMP assessment administration
is Monday, December 21st, 2025 – Friday, May 8th, 2026. Please ensure all
students who are taking the Avant STAMP assessment for the SSBB complete
the Avant STAMP assessment by Friday, May 8th, 2026.

Approved assessments for the NM SSBB: 

STAMP 4S
(4-Skills)

Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Grades 7-12

STAMP WS
(2-Skill)

Writing and Speaking Grades 7-12

STAMP for ASL
(2-Skill)

Receptive, Expressive

As of School Year 2021-2022, students need to score a minimum of 5 (Intermediate-Mid) in all four sections of the STAMP 4S test to qualify for the second language piece of the SSBB. Students need to score a minimum of 5 (Intermediate-Mid) in both sections of the STAMP WS test to qualify for the second language piece of the SSBB. 

Test coordinators will have access to all score reports online with their own results account login and oversee relaying the scores to NMPED and to the students. More information on score reports can be found in our STAMP 4S Reporting Guide.

The AvantProctor Remote Proctoring option through Avant is only available for seniors who are unable to test in-person. NMPED is covering the cost of remote proctoring for seniors in this situation.

More information on the Avant Remote Proctoring option can be found here.

We encourage test takers and test coordinators to review Avant’s online resources to help students understand what the expectations will be on the test, with a special focus on the productive skills of Writing and Speaking. Avant has user guides available for each of our assessments. Find the name of the assessment you are taking and click the drop down to review the guides available for that assessment.

They can review our Writing Response Examples and Power Up Guide to see what is expected at the Intermediate-Mid level. If you are testing juniors, they will have the chance to focus on improving their low score areas before testing again their senior year.

There are also sample tests available for test takers to have an idea of what it’s like to take an Avant assessment, and to test that their technology works. Sample tests are not given scores.

STAMP 4S

End of Grade 8 to 12th grade

STAMP 4S Sample Test

STAMP WS

End of Grade 8 to 12th grade

STAMP WS Sample Test

Contact Bonnie Buck with your estimated count of students and the languages you need to test students in.

Available SSBB Assessment Languages for the 2024/25 School Year:

End of grade 8th – 12th grade assessments taken for SSBB

STAMP 4S

  1. Arabic (Modern Standard)
  2. English
  3. French
  4. German
  5. Hebrew
  6. Hindi
  7. Italian
  8. Japanese
  9. Korean
  10. Mandarin (Simplified)
  11. Mandarin (Traditional)
  12. Polish
  13. Portuguese (Brazilian)
  14. Russian
  15. Spanish

STAMP WS

  1. Amharic
  2. Armenian
  3. Bengali
  4. Cabo Verdean
  5. Chaldean (Speaking only)
  6. Chin (Hakha)
  7. Chuukese
  8. Czech
  9. Filipino (Tagalog)
  10. Greek
  11. Haitian Creole
  12. Hawaiian (‘Ōlelo Hawai’i)
  13. Hmong
  14. Ilocano
  15. Kannada
  16. Khmer
  17. Marathi
  18. Marshallese
  19. Nepali
  20. Pashto
  21. Persian-Farsi
  22. Punjabi
  23. Samoan
  24. Somali Maay Maay
  25. Somali Maxaa
  26. Swahili
  27. Tamil
  28. Telugu
  29. Thai
  30. Tigrinya
  31. Turkish
  32. Ukrainian
  33. Urdu
  34. Vietnamese
  35. Yoruba
  36. Yup’ik
  37. Zomi

STAMP for ASL

  1. American Sign Language (ASL)

STAMP for Latin

  1. Latin

STAMP Monolingual

  1. Spanish
  2. Arabic (Modern Standard)

We look forward to supporting you with your testing! 

Questions? Email Bonnie Buck at bonnie.buck@avantassessment.com for help!

Bonnie Buck headshot.

New Mexico’s STAMP Story

In 2018, the Bilingual Multicultural Education Program (BMEP) Assessment taskforce was selected to research, review and identify assessments for Spanish language proficiency in Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking that are rigorous and meet the states’ Regulations and Standards.

The BMEP Assessment taskforce members worked in coordination with the state, via direct advisement to the Language and Culture Bureau. After careful and thorough review of the various assessments, the taskforce recommended Avant STAMP as the best available assessment for the students of New Mexico.

Avant STAMP assessment scores are aligned to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, which the state has adopted.

Avant STAMP scores are delivered electronically within seven business days, allowing for the data to be utilized for driving instruction and making program decisions. Individual student Speaking and Writing responses are available for viewing to teachers and administrators, along with class summary charts.

The Avant STAMP assessments are administered in a group setting and take an average of two hours to complete. STAMP assessments feature a unique adaptive design, so students never see the same test.

Avant also offers language proficiency assessments in a variety of languages to accommodate testing for the State of New Mexico Diploma of Excellence Bilingual and Biliteracy Seal.

Avant is honored to support the students of New Mexico with achieving their language proficiency goals.

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