My district supervisor mentioned that she had some use-it-or-lose-it money that had to be used by the end of the year, but within a limited range of options. Now, friends, I’ve never met a dollar that I couldn’t spend 5 or 6 times over, so I sent her a list of ideas of how I would spend it if I had the option. Part of that wish list included being able to administer ACTFL’s AAPPL assessment to my students. The request was approved, and my school is the first to use it in our district. Sooooo, with a deep breath, we dove in!
After redesigning our curriculum over the past two years–an endeavor that launched the #langchat community, I was curious to see if students were performing as well as I thought they were. There are 4 components: interpretive reading, interpretive listening, presentational writing, and interpersonal listening/speaking. There are also two versions of the assessment: one for novice-intermediate levels, and another for intermediate-advanced. My non-native speakers took the novice-intermediate assessment, while the native speakers took the more advanced version.
Today most students completed the reading & listening portions, and I was extremely pleased with how they performed. I received a score report for each student for each of these sections instantaneously, and students were very excited to see how they had performed. They exceeded my expectations, and I think they surprised themselves at what they were able to do. It didn’t hurt that I told them that if they scored well enough on today’s assessment that they would be exempt from those sections on next week’s final exam!
The score report has interesting information on it, and also offers suggestions for improvement for the student. I love the idea of instant, personalized feedback that can help students grow. We should get the scores back on the other sections in a couple of weeks. I’m curious to see if the students can maintain the awesome start that they had on the assessment today. More on that when they come!
Have you tried the AAPPL measure with your classes? What were your experiences?
Aventuras Nuevas 
I really think I’d like to try these! Think it’d be worth it for Spanish 2?
Yes! I’m using it with 2 & 4.
How much does it cost? Do the students take it online?
It’s all online. It’s $20/student for all 4 skills, less if you do only some of the components.
Hi!
We have only done the reading portion so far, but I did not receive any reports. Does those arrive via e-mail, or were they on the testing site? Thanks!
You log in to your testing control site, then click reporting. Enter your search terms & choose to see the certificates. ¡Allí estarán!
I am itching to try the aappl assessments. Hoping to get admin on board next year! The whole exam, scores and feedback look like a phenomenal package. I am wondering if this might be a way to get seal of bi literacy!
I just found out that AAPPL does meet the criteria in our state for an external exam establishing their proficiency level, which can lead to a Global Language endorsement (similar to the biliteracy seal). Now I need to look at the rest of the criteria, because I think I will have several students who will qualify! I’m so excited for them!