- Kent School District
- World Language Proficiency
World Language Proficiency Assessment
-
Earn Up to Four Credits for Languages You Know
Students in grades 9-12 who can read, write, speak, and understand the world languages at the Novice Mid-Level or above can earn high school credit for free when they complete world language proficiency assessments.
Based on the proficiency level demonstrated, students can earn 1-4 high school credits for world language. The credits will help students meet high school graduation and college admissions requirements.
2021-2022 Assessment Process
Students that are interested in the World Language Proficiency Assessment will need to attend the information session at their high school. During this session, they will find out more information about what is involved in testing, requirements to receive credit, and complete two writing prompt samples.
Once their writing prompts are evaluated, students will be contacted via email with next steps for registering or recommendations to practice for increasing proficiency prior to testing.
This year, all high schools will offer one in-school testing date in January or February. Students will complete the testing during the school day.Attend Your School’s Information Session
For more information, please sign up to attend your high school’s information session.
- Kent-Meridian High School
- Virtual Information Session: November 9, 2021 (register online by November 6)
- Testing at Kent-Meridian: January 13, 2022
- Kentlake High School
- Virtual Information Session: December 7, 2021 (register online by December 4)
- Testing at Kentlake: February 8, 2022
- Kentridge High School
- Virtual Information Session: November 16, 2021 (register online by November 13)
- Testing at Kentridge: February 9, 2022
- Kentwood High School
- Virtual Information Session: November 17, 2021 (register online by November 15)
- Testing at Kentwood: January 27, 2022
- Kent Laboratory Academy
- Virtual Information Session: November 15, 2021 (register online by November 13)
- Testing at KLA: January 11, 2022
- Kent-Meridian High School
Assessments
-
STAMP Assessments
Standards-Based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) is an online assessment system that tests reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in a variety of languages.
Tests are not timed but typically take about 2-3 hours. Test instructions are in English, students responses must be in the testing language.
Students can prepare for this assessment by reading the STAMP Test Taker Guide. If unsure about English reading skills, students can take the
STAMP Sample Test for practice.Available Languages
- Arabic
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional)
- Polish
- Russian
- Spanish
- Armenian
- Filipino (Tagalog
- Haitian-Creole
- Ilocano
- Samoan
- Somali Maay
- Somali Maxaa
- Tamil
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
- Yup'ik
-
ALTA Writing & Listening Assessments
Writing Assessment
The ALTA Writing Assessment is a hand-written test with several “prompts” (or questions) for students to write about in connected paragraphs. Grammar mistakes are ok. The ALTA writing test is completed in 1 hour.
Listening Assessment
The ALTA Listening Assessment is an interview by telephone with a native speaker, which will be scheduled at your school after we receive writing scores. The listening test is scheduled for 30 minutes during the school day.
Available Languages
- Albanian
- Amharic
- Azerbaijani
- Baluchi (Western)
- Bambara
- Bengali
- Bosnian
- Bulgarian
- Burmese
- Cambodian
- Cantonese (Traditional)
- Chuukese
- Croatian
- Czech Danish
- Dari Farsi
- Dutch
- Estonian
- Ewe
- Fante (Akan)
- Finnish
- Fulfulde (Fulani)
- Ga
- Greek (Modern)
- Gujarati
- Hausa
- Hmong-Mong
- Hungarian
- Ibo
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Jamaican Patois
- Kazakh
- Kurdish (Kurmandji)
- Kurdish (Sorani)
- Laotian
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Macedonian
- Malayalam
- Nepali
- Norwegian
- Oromo
- Pashto
- Persian Farsi
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Punjabi (Eastern)
- Punjabi (Western)
- Romanian
- Serbian
- Serbo-Croatian
- Sinhala
- Slovak
- Swahili
- Swedish
- Taiwanese (Traditional)
- Tajik
- Telegu
- Thai
- Tibetan
- Tigrinya
- Turkish
- Turkmen
- Twi (Akan)
- Ukranian
- Urdu
- Uzbek
- Wolof
- Yoruba
-
Other Assessments
Languages not tested by the STAMP or ALTA assessments may be tested using WPT & Proctored Writing Test, AAPL OPI, and OPIc.
Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) & Proctored Writing Test
The WPT and Proctored Writing tasks are English prompts for which the student provides
hand-written response in the target language. The responses are evaluated to determine whether they demonstrate proficiency at a sufficient level to recommend 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits (i.e. at least Novice Mid, at least Novice High, at least Intermediate Low, or at least Intermediate Mid) -- but not higher than that because the evaluators for these less commonly taught/tested languages have not been formally trained to provide a precise proficiency rating.Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)
The OPI is a structured phone conversation with a speaker of the target language. The interaction is scored based on word usage and sentence structure.
Oral Proficiency Interview on the Computer (OPIc)
The OPIc is a computer-assisted oral assessment in which the student interacts orally with an avatar to have a conversation in the target language. The interaction is scored based on word usage and sentence structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Who can earn World Language Credit by Proficiency?
Any student in grades 9-12 with strong skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in a language other than English can earn credit. Students using American Sign Language (ASL) may also earn credit. Students need to complete an orientation and self-assessment of their skills before testing.
-
How many credits can I earn?
You can earn 1-4 credits.
-
Can I take the test if I’m not a native speaker?
Yes.
-
Can I take the test if I am an ELL student?
Yes. English Language Learner (ELL) students are encouraged to take the test. However, we strongly recommend you take the test when you are at an intermediate or advanced level of English language skill – this is because the test instructions will all be in English, making the test challenging for a beginning ELL student.
-
How much does testing cost?
The first language test is free. If you choose to retest, there will be a fee based on the cost of the assessment.
-
What happens if I don’t do well on the test?
There is no negative posting on transcripts or other records.
-
Can I test more than once?
Yes. You can opt to retest, at your own cost.
-
How do I register for the test?
To register, you will attend an information orientation, complete a self-assessment, and take a practice test. This will happen across the high school campuses during the school day and be advertised at the school.
-
How do I decide if I should take the test?
During or after the orientation, you will complete a self-assessment that will help you identify your proficiency level. If your level is high enough, and you want to earn the credit, you are encouraged to take the test.
-
What is the test like?
The test varies depending on language. Some tests are completed on the computer, some are paper/pencil, and some are a combination of both. All the tests also include a speaking and/or listening component, as well as reading and writing assessments. Practice assessments are available online: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Samoan, and Spanish. For other languages, you will learn about the assessment during the information orientation.
-
Where does testing happen?
In most cases, testing will happen at your home high school.
Contact Us
-
Assessment
12033 SE 256th Street #D-2100
Kent, WA 98030(253) 373-7080
Charity Jensen
Director of Assessment
Jennifer Antrobus
Assistant Director of Assessment