Heritage Language Proficiency Testing

Connecting with one’s heritage through language is more than learning words; it’s embracing an identity and opening doors to a multilingual future. Bilingual and multilingual individuals are highly valued in today’s global job market, often enjoying better career opportunities and higher salaries.

Avant offers a clear, accessible pathway for heritage language learners through a selection of assessments that are tailored for different types of situations. Read more about the purpose for each type of assessment.

Our online assessment leads to Selos Estaduais de Biliteracia, the Selo Global de Bilinguismo, Avant Insignias Digitais, and credit-by-exam which showcase proficiency and open opportunities in higher education and beyond.

For teachers in heritage programs, we provide essential resources to enhance teaching, understand assessment results, and enrich curriculums. Join us in nurturing the next generation of bilingual and multilingual leaders, celebrating their unique cultural identities.

Avant Tests for Heritage Programs

STAMP 4S

Avaliação de 4 habilidades para adolescentes e adultos

Leitura Escrita Ouvindo Falando

STAMP 4Se

Avaliação de 4 habilidades para escolas primárias

Leitura Escrita Ouvindo Falando

STAMP WS

Avaliação de habilidades para adolescentes e adultos

Escrita Falando

STAMP para ASL

Avaliação de 2 habilidades em Língua de Sinais Americana

Receptivo Expressivo

SHL

Teste de Língua Herança Espanhola para programas de herança

Leitura Escrita Falando

STAMP Monolíngue

Avaliação de 4 habilidades com instruções no idioma do teste

Leitura Escrita Ouvindo Falando

Objectives of the STAMP Language Assessments

Avant STAMP language assessments are most commonly used for:

Qualifying students to receive State or Global Seals of Biliteracy and Avant Digital Badge to potentially receive credits or advanced placement at universities.
Credit-by-Exam testing to award high school language credit for a learner’s native language ability. Washington state and Texas are examples of states that offer credit-by-exam.
Showcasing the effects of language learning.
Informing language program curriculum.
Providing teachers with valuable insights on the level of learner’s knowledge of the language and progression of skills.
Aiding teachers’ ability to improve results throughout the language learning process for well-rounded proficiency.

Poziomy odniesienia

There are three major proficiency levels assessed: novice, intermediate and advanced. There are three sublevels within the first two levels: low, mid and high, and two (low and mid) for the highest level, corresponding to the one to eight rating. The Avant STAMP ratings are based on the US national proficiency standards.

Writing and Speaking Rating

Writing and speaking skills are assessed by Avant Certified Raters who use the generally accepted scoring rubric procedure, appropriate for individual levels of language competence.

Topics Guide

Novice topics

Presentations: name, address, family status, gender, age, date and place of birth, nationality, language, school, education, profession
Calendar/ Time
Colors/ Shapes
Wild animals/ Pets
School /Classroom
Weather / Seasons
Clothing / footwear
Food /Beverages /Restaurants / Bars / Dishes
Places / Geography, location, towns, public institutions, monuments, tourist attractions
Daily life / Everyday routine
Shopping / Stores
Leisure / Activities
Household / House

Intermediate topics

Zdrowie
Holidays / Celebrations
Occupations / Professions
Transportation / Travel / Vacations
Future plans
Kultura
Współczesne zagadnienia
Current events
Ekonomia
Literatura
Nauka
Nauki społeczne
Historia
Plus, more in-depth aspects of Novice topics

Advanced topics

Arts
Polityka
Religia
Matematyka
Science / Technology
Plus, more in-depth aspects of Intermediate topics

Opportunities for Bilingual Credentials

Selos Estaduais de Biliteracia, Global Seals of Biliteracy, and Avant Insignias Digitais were created to honor students’ language proficiency skills and provide a reliable validation mechanism to higher education institutions and employers.

All Seals of Biliteracy and digital badges are earned by a demonstration of language proficiency in two or more languages through an approved external assessment like the Avant STAMP 4S, WS and ASL. In most traditional schools and districts, students achieving the minimum score required to earn a seal have the results placed on their official transcript.

Selos Estaduais de Biliteracia

Selos Estaduais de Biliteracia are awards granted by a school, district, or state to high school seniors in public school environments.

Avant Insignias Digitais

Avant Insignias Digitais can be earned by any student and submitted to institutions of higher education for advanced placement into higher-level courses.

Global Seals of Biliteracy

Global Seals of Biliteracy enable recipients to showcase their language skills to any school or employer across state lines and national borders, with a unique serial-numbered document. The Global Seal is awarded at three levels: Functional, Working, and Professional. Students, teachers, community members, and professionals are all eligible for the Global Seal.

Credit-by-Exam

Credit-by-Exam is also offered in some states to award high school world language credit to learners with native ability. Washington state and Texas are such examples.

Helping Learners Prepare

Avant STAMP is a real-world communication proficiency assessment. Meaning, it is about what the test taker can do at this point in time. “Cramming” will not help improve scores. Regular practice in writing and speaking the language will help the test taker improve their skills over time.

Avant has several resources for test takers to help them prepare for the test included in the Test Taker Power-Up Guide.

This guide and its related resources include:

Strategies for improving language skills.
Target “can-do” statements to help them understand what they need to be able to do to get to the next proficiency level.
Video tutorials on what to expect on the test.
Sample tests.

Resources for Community-Based Teachers

Escala de Referência — Our Benchmark and Rubric Guide is your key to understanding your students’ proficiency levels.

Knowing how to help your language learners improve and demonstrate proficiency is key to growing their skills.

Avant has several resources to help teachers understand the levels of proficiency based on internationally recognized standards and use them to inform their curriculum for improved outcomes.

Avant’s free resources include:

Training on the Proficiency Standards

Avant ADVANCEboosts teacher confidence in accurately scoring student writing responses.

Samodzielne tempo z natychmiastową informacją zwrotną
Ćwiczenie oceniania odpowiedzi uczniów
Pomaga wyznaczać cele i poziomy biegłości
Online and affordable

Dowiedz się więcej o Avant ADVANCE

Avant STAMP 4S

Avant STAMP 4S is the premier computer-adaptive language proficiency assessment typically administered to second-language learners.

STAMP 4S sprawdza czytanie, pisanie, słuchanie i mówienie i jest naszym najbardziej wszechstronnym testem. Test ten trwa średnio dwie (2) godziny i jest oferowany w 17 różnych językach.

Sekcje czytania i słuchania są wielokrotnego wyboru i oceniane komputerowo, a wyniki są dostępne natychmiast. Sekcje Pisanie i Mówienie są oceniane przez naszych ekspertów Avant Certified Raters.

The instructions and questions require an Intermediate-Mid understanding of English. For learners with limited English proficiency, a two-skill Writing and Speaking assessment may be used where the prompts may be heard in the testing language in addition to the English written instructions.

Avant STAMPe

Avant STAMPe jest złotym standardem dla językowo i rozwojowo odpowiednich treści oceny językowej dla uczniów w wieku 12 lat i młodszych.

STAMPe Testy zostały zatwierdzone do użytku już w K-1.

STAMP 4Se ocenia czytanie, pisanie, słuchanie i mówienie i jest naszym najbardziej wszechstronnym testem. Test trwa średnio dwie (2) godziny i jest oferowany w 14 różnych językach.

STAMP WSe testy Pisanie i Mówienie. Test trwa średnio jedną (1) godzinę i jest dostępny w 2 językach.

Każdą sekcję można ukończyć w dowolnej kolejności i pojedynczo, co zapewnia bardziej elastyczny czas trwania testów.

Avant STAMP WS

Avant STAMP WS language proficiency assessment is a semi-adaptive Writing and Speaking test. Test takers will be asked to answer seven (7) self-evaluation questions that best represent their skill/ability level in both the Reading and Listening sections.

The self-evaluated Reading score is used to determine the level of prompt delivered for the Writing section. The same applies for the Listening self-evaluation related to the Speaking prompts. This allows the language productive sections to be more appropriately leveled for the test taker.
STAMP WS takes about one (1) hour to complete. The test is fully scored by our expert Avant Certified Raters.

The instructions and prompts require an Intermediate-Mid understanding of English. For learners with limited English proficiency, the prompts may be heard in the testing language in addition to the English written instructions.

Teste SuperLanguage Avant

*Abchaski, birmański, kareński i Jingpho (Kachin) są tymczasowo niedostępne.

STAMP para ASL

Avant STAMP for ASL is a first-of-its-kind American Sign Language test. It was developed for second-language learners of ASL and Children of Deaf Adults (CODA) in collaboration with Bridges Oregon. This assessment is designed for ages 13-18.

Uczestnicy testu mogą być oceniani pod kątem umiejętności receptywnych (zdolność rozumienia ASL), a także umiejętności ekspresywnych (zdolność tworzenia ASL), w tym stosowania gramatyki ASL. Ten adaptowany komputerowo test języka migowego jest przeprowadzany całkowicie online.

The Receptive skill is computer-adaptive and results are available immediately upon completion of the section. The Expressive skill is scored by members of the ASL linguistics community who have undergone Avant Rater Certification training. Expressive results are available in 20-22 business days.

Język dziedzictwa hiszpańskiego (SHL)

Avantjest testem kwalifikacyjnym do programów nauczania języka dziedzictwa kulturowego. Mierzy on słownictwo, gramatykę, użycie czasowników, ortografię oraz biegłość w pisaniu i mówieniu w języku hiszpańskim, która jest odpowiednia dla szerokiego zakresu języka hiszpańskiego używanego w USA.

Test Avant SHL szybko identyfikuje mniej biegłych uczniów i pozwala im na wcześniejsze opuszczenie testu, podczas gdy bardziej biegli uczniowie biorą udział w całym teście, aby zebrać dane niezbędne do ich dokładnej klasyfikacji.

Avant STAMP Monolingual

Avant developed the STAMP Monolíngue as a proficiency test that is designed to include instructions, questions, and prompts all in the target language. Educators may use STAMP Monolingual tests to accurately assess incoming heritage speakers, provide credit for a heritage language, or assess proficiency in a bilingual or multicultural environment.

STAMP Monolingual ocenia czytanie, pisanie, słuchanie i mówienie. Test trwa średnio dwie (2) godziny i jest oferowany w 2 językach.

Contact our team to get a custom quote based on your heritage program’s needs.

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Atualizado: Outubro 2025

Heritage Language Proficiency Testing

Avant Tests for Heritage Programs

STAMP 4S

STAMP 4Se

STAMP WS

STAMP para ASL

SHL

STAMP Monolíngue

Objectives of the STAMP Language Assessments

Poziomy odniesienia

Writing and Speaking Rating

Topics Guide

Novice topics

Intermediate topics

Advanced topics

Opportunities for Bilingual Credentials

Selos Estaduais de Biliteracia

Avant Insignias Digitais

Global Seals of Biliteracy

Credit-by-Exam

Helping Learners Prepare

Resources for Community-Based Teachers

Training on the Proficiency Standards

Avant STAMP 4S

STAMP Przykładowe testy 4S

Avant STAMPe

STAMP 4Se Przykładowe testy

STAMP WSe Przykładowe testy

Avant STAMP WS

STAMP Przykładowe testy WS

Teste SuperLanguage Avant

STAMP para ASL

STAMP dla ASL Przykładowy test

Język dziedzictwa hiszpańskiego (SHL)

Przykładowy test SHL

Avant STAMP Monolingual

STAMP Monolingual Przykładowe testy

Jak możemy pomóc?