CURRENT PATRIOT CONSORTIUM SPANISH PLACEMENT PROCESS

In the month of December, 8th-grade students will participate in the AAPPL (The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages) assessment to assess their communicative competency with the Spanish language.  The purpose of this assessment is three-fold: 

  1. D96 will collect valuable data that will inform our instruction to continue to enhance our Spanish curriculum and instruction.
  2. Stevenson High School will use this proficiency data to make initial recommendations for Spanish coursework when your student is in high school.
  3. Students will have the opportunity to have experience with an assessment that can lead them to earn the Seal of Biliteracy on their High School diploma when they are in high school. 

Tell me more about the assessment.
Your child’s Spanish Teacher will share the specific assessment schedule.  The tasks included in this assessment are similar to tasks we use during our regular instruction and assessment cycle in Spanish classes.  The students are asked to engage in interpretive listening and reading tasks.  This includes listening or reading authentic Spanish pieces and answering questions, in English, about those pieces based on the language the students already know or context given.  Additionally, the students will respond to writing prompts in Spanish utilizing learned language skills.  The final piece of the assessment is an interpersonal speaking opportunity in which your child will perform for the classroom teacher and will be scored based on a rubric co-constructed with all Spanish teachers across the consortium (D96, D102, D103, and D125) for consistency of expectations.  

When will the test be administered?
Listening and Reading:  December 8, 2022 (1:06-2:30 p.m.)
Writing:  December 9, 2022 (1:06-2:30 p.m.)
 
What do students need?
Please make sure your student has headphones.
 
How will this information be used to make course recommendations?   
Your student’s level of proficiency (interpretive listening and reading as well as writing) as indicated by this assessment combined with an analysis of their interpersonal speaking skills and teacher input will be used to make an initial course recommendation that is optimal for your student.  You will receive this information in the mail late January/early February prior to needing to select courses at Stevenson.  You can find the specific course sequence in this course book.  In general, recommendations will be made for the following courses based on this assessment: 

  • Spanish 2
  • Spanish 2-3 Accelerated
  • Spanish 3-4 Accelerated

As this is a recommendation, your family will have the opportunity to provide input as you make the final selection for a course, should your child choose to continue studying the Spanish language.  
 
What is the Seal of Biliteracy?
The Seal of Biliteracy is intended to recognize students for multilingual skills and is indicated on a student’s high school diploma.  Additionally, Illinois universities are obligated to offer college credit to students that have earned the Seal of Biliteracy through meeting the requirements.
 
For more information about this opportunity, use this link and click on the Seal of Biliteracy Tab.

What if my child would like to participate in a benchmark or placement assessment for a language other than Spanish?  
Stevenson also provides individuals who have experience in Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, or Latin could take a placement exam to decide if a higher level language course placement would be appropriate for your child. Please visit the Stevenson website for more information and to register for the exam via this link. The deadline to register is Monday, December 12, 2022. 


The purpose of the benchmark exam is two-fold:
 
  • As indicated by this assessment, your student's level of proficiency will be used to determine the appropriate level for course recommendation. This information will be mailed in mid-January prior to Stevenson's Course Selection evenings.
  • Course selection data collected in February is crucial to determining appropriate staffing, the number of sections, fiscal decisions, and building the master schedule for the following school year.

Finally, more information is available on the Stevenson website and on the Benchmark FAQ document. For additional questions, please email [email protected].
 
 

Updated Fall 2022