By Rohan Anne, Webmaster
At the Aug. 26 school board meeting, Tredyffrin/Easttown School District entered into an agreement with Language Testing International to administer a language mastery test known as the Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL). The online examination assesses mastery of foreign languages across several modes of communication. The district plans to pilot the test in fourth level world language classrooms in Conestoga during the second semester.
The AAPPL focuses on testing students’ abilities in writing, listening, reading and speaking based on guidelines set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The exam has a section for each skill and takes around two hours to complete. The district intends for AAPPL to replace the STAMP Language Proficiency Test, which the district currently uses to test language mastery. According to Dr. Patrick Gately, TESD curriculum supervisor, the main difference between the STAMP and AAPPL tests is the level of education at which each test is administered.
“The STAMP has been a great option so far, and both the STAMP and AAPPL tests align with our standards, but the main difference that makes the AAPPL more appealing is its level,” Gately said. “The STAMP is mainly used at the high school, middle school and even elementary school level, but the AAPPL is mainly administered at the university level.”
Teachers who teach a fourth level language class will be able to volunteer to pilot the test in the second semester with their students. There will be no grade attached to the test, but teachers plan to judge the efficiency of the AAPPL test and their students’ progression, according to world languages department chair Patrick Cupo.
“We’re looking for interested teachers to pilot the exam at the fourth level of language learning because that’s also a good point where we can see how language learning has progressed with each student,” Cupo said. “We’re also trying to figure out whether this AAPPL test meets the mark and how we can align our teaching with the skills that the AAPPL tries to test our students.”
The AAPPL aims to test how well students have learned their language over the course of their education, which senior Rowan Bellew feels will allow students to reflect on their own language-learning journey and see where they can improve.
“A student might know writing really well, but they might not have reading comprehension (skills) to put it into writing,” Bellew said. “This (test) is going to help them assess areas where they might need improvement.”
Rohan Anne can be reached at [email protected].
