OSPI World Languages - January Update

Happy Lunar New Year – Year of the Dragon! I hope it will be a great one for everyone. WAFLT has been working very hard and we have a whole list of locations scheduled this winter/spring for Competency-Based Credits (mainly STAMP test). You can find the complete list at:
http://tinyurl.com/Register-WA-WL-Assessment-Day.

I’m very excited about the first LinguaFolio® Collection of Evidence Workshop that we held at Seattle Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center last Saturday. We had 11 Vietnamese students come in, set up their LinguaFolio Online (LFO) account and complete 2-3 writing tasks and upload the evidence to LFO. Seattle has a series of these workshops planned in coming weeks. Please stop by if you can help or would like to learn more about LFO yourself. (See: https://sites.google.com/site/worldlanguagecredits/.)


This update is also posted on the website:
http://www.k12.wa.us/WorldLanguages/...te_Jan2012.pdf

World Languages Program Update January 2012

World Languages Competency-Based Credits & WA World Language Assessment Days
The Washington Association for Language Teaching (WAFLT) and OSPI have now collaborated on four Washington World Language Assessment Days since spring 2011. These Assessment Days have been a tremendous success and will be expanding even more this spring. Having this opportunity for students to complete assessments to help them demonstrate proficiency has encouraged additional districts to begin the process of moving toward Competency-Based Credits for World Languages. Most recently, Aberdeen has joined Mt. Adams, North Thurston, and Seattle to adopt the policy and begin implementing the procedure. Several other districts, including Spokane, have also begun work in this direction. For latest updates from OSPI, visit: http://www.k12.wa.us/WorldLanguages/...edCredits.aspx.

Seattle Public Schools became the first district in the state to make a commitment to support all of their English Language Learners (ELLs) to earn Competency-Based Credits by demonstrating language proficiency in their home language, if possible. Seattle is partnering with WAFLT and OSPI to offer additional Washington World Language Assessment Days in Seattle Public Schools (open to any students, not just from Seattle). In fall 2011, a total of 64 ELL students in Seattle completed the STAMP (Standards-Based Measurement of Proficiency) test, along with 21 non-ELL students in the district. Of these 85 students, 52% earned 4 credits, 14% earned 3 credits, 15% earned 2 credits, and 19% earned 1 credit. The languages included Arabic (2 students), Japanese (3), Mandarin (both Simplified (66) and Traditional (4) characters), and Spanish (10).

This spring, Seattle will partner with WAFLT to offer the ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) and Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) to students whose languages are not covered by the STAMP test. Another large group of students whose languages are not covered by either STAMP or ACTFL tests will work with LinguaFolio Online to create a Collection of Evidence to demonstrate proficiency. (See details below.)

WAFLT and OSPI are eager to work with other districts, as well as colleges and universities, that would like to host Washington World Language Assessment Days. We have lined up a variety of test sites, including Aberdeen School District, Central Washington University, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Public Schools, Washington State University, and the University of Washington for spring dates, including March 17 and May 19. Students can register at: http://tinyurl.com/Register-WA-WL-Assessment-Day. If you would like to receive email updates whenever new dates and locations are set, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/WL-Assess-Sign-up.

LinguaFolio® Collection of Evidence Workshops
February 1, February 8, March 21, March 28, May 2, 2012 4:00 – 6:00 pm For ALL languages. Free.
Secondary Bilingual Orientation (SBOC)/World School Room 13 | 301 21 Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
This is an opportunity for students who would like to earn Competency-Based Credits to create a LinguaFolio® Collection of Evidence to help them demonstrate their proficiency. For more information (and to confirm dates), visit: https://sites.google.com/site/worldl...ts/linguafolio.
(Teachers are also welcome to attend to see LinguaFolio Online in action.)

All the best,
Michele

Michele Anciaux Aoki, Ph.D. | World Languages Program Supervisor
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Old Capitol Building | PO Box 47200 | Olympia, WA 98504-7200
Phone: 360.725.6129 | Fax: 360.725.6017 | Email: michele.aoki@k12.wa.us
Visit the World Languages web pages: http://www.k12.wa.us/WorldLanguages/