Multilingualism is a gift that augments education and career opportunities. Bilinguals and multilinguals are sought after by employers and can earn higher salaries in a variety of industries.
The challenge is how home school and heritage learners can prove the skills learned outside of a traditional classroom. Avant guides home, heritage, and community-based learners and teachers through the process of improving and demonstrating language proficiency wherever and however the language is learned.
Avant Tests for Heritage Programs
SHL
Objectives of the STAMP Language Assessments
The main purposes of the STAMP language tests are:
- Qualifying students to receive the State Seal of Biliteracy, Global Seal of Biliteracy, and Avant Digital Badge and to potentially receive credits or advanced placement at universities,
- Improving the effects of language learning,
- Improving language programs,
- Providing teachers with data on the level of student’s knowledge of the language being learned,
- Improving teachers’ skills in obtaining better results in the language proficiency process.
Benchmark Levels
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 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.
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
- Health
- Holidays / Celebrations
- Occupations / Professions
- Transportation / Travel / Vacations
- Future plans
- Culture
- Contemporary Issues
- Current events
- Economics
- Literature
- Science
- Social Science
- History
- Plus, more in-depth aspects of Novice topics
Advanced topics
- Arts
- Politics
- Religion
- Math
- Science / Technology
- Plus, more in-depth aspects of Intermediate topics
Opportunities for Bilingual Credentials
State Seals of Biliteracy, Global Seals of Biliteracy, and Avant Digital Badges 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 and WS. In most traditional schools and districts, students achieving the minimum score required to earn a seal have the results placed on their official transcript.
- State Seals of Biliteracy are awards granted by a school, district, or state to high school seniors in public school environments.
- Avant Digital Badges can be earned by any student and submitted to institutions of higher education for advanced placement into higher-level courses.
- 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.
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
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:
For educators who want to take their knowledge of the proficiency levels even deeper, Avant offers Avant ADVANCE, an online, self-paced, affordable training tool.
Avant ADVANCE improves language learner outcomes by helping teachers learn to accurately score student writing responses.
- Self-paced with immediate feedback
- Practice rating student responses
- Helps set goals and proficiency targets
Avant STAMP 4S
Avant STAMP 4S is the premier computer-adaptive language proficiency assessment delivered all over the world.
STAMP 4S tests Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking and is our most comprehensive assessment. This test takes, on average, two (2) hours to complete and is offered in 17 different languages.
Reading and Listening sections are multiple-choice and computer-scored with results available immediately. The Writing and Speaking sections are scored by our expert Avant Certified Raters.
STAMP 4S Sample Tests
Avant STAMPe
Avant STAMPe is the gold standard for linguistically and developmentally appropriate language assessment content for learners ages 12 and under.
STAMPe tests have been approved for use as early as K-1.
STAMP 4Se assesses Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking and is our most comprehensive assessment. This test takes, on average, two (2) hours to complete and is offered in 14 different languages.
STAMP WSe tests Writing and Speaking. On average, it takes one (1) hour to complete and is available in 2 languages.
Reading and Listening sections are multiple-choice and computer-scored with results available immediately. The Writing and Speaking sections are scored by our expert Avant Certified Raters.
Each section can be completed in any order and one at a time for more flexible testing times and durations.
STAMP 4Se Sample Tests
STAMP WSe Sample Tests
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.
STAMP WS Sample Tests
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