Rate it!

A series in collaboration with the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC), the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), the Minnesota Coordinators of World Language (MNCoWL), and the Minnesota Department of Education

Rate it!  

Assessing Student Performance in the World Language Classroom

“What we assess communicates to students what we value.”   ---Cherice Montgomery

Back by popular demand - a series of 5 workshops designed to help you assess what your students can DO with the language!  Come learn how to assess student performance in the world language classroom and inspire students to move to the next proficiency level!

These workshops will help you implement world language curriculum based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Performance Guidelines and the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) framework.  During the sessions, we will work with performance goals for language learners of all levels, develop assessments for each mode of communication using backward design (Wiggins & McTighe), and practice using the ACTFL performance rubrics to assess students’ performances.  Ideas on reporting performance-based grades will also be shared.

The series is open to teachers of all levels and languages and is intended for both immersion and non-immersion teachers.  The series is also an excellent fit for teachers in dual language or immersion programs intending to measure the language development and proficiency levels of the non-English immersion language of their programs.

Presenter: Megan Budke, Wayzata Public Schools. Megan has extensive experience developing and implementing IPAs. She has served as her district's world language resource teacher and led last year’s IP-YAY! workshops at MDE, using IPAs to create curriculum that focuses on teaching for proficiency.  

Location: Minnesota Department of Education Conference Center A or B

*All sessions include a light breakfast and lunch*

2 Graduate Credits available through Hamline University

Session 1 - Assessing what matters using IPAs      December 2         9am-1pm    Cost: $42

How can our assessments value what students DO with the language? Come learn how Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs) can measure what we value in our language classrooms!  See how IPAs help our students acquire diverse perspectives and engage our learners in meaningful activities that go beyond our classroom walls.  Concrete examples will be shared of how to design, create, and implement IPAs that assess students in their 3 communication modes: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational.

Session 2 - ACTFL Training - Unwrapping Proficiency       January 20            9am-3pm    Cost: $59

Presenter: Arnold Bleicher, an experienced ACTFL trainer and World Language educator that has extensive experience working with teachers on assessment and helping workshop participants “unwrap proficiency levels” to understand what they mean, what students need to target and how teachers can help students attain their goals to earn bilingual seals.

This one day workshop will link Proficiency and Performance and how performance assessments can be used to measure growth in the three modes of communication. Identifying what makes a learner Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced will be addressed. Ideas for employing best practices using the best mix of modes for each level to help move students along the proficiency continuum will be shared.  Participants will practice identifying key characteristics using ACTFL samples and distinguish strategies to support learners aiming to earn Minnesota’s bilingual seals.

*Please note: Location for the Session 2 is Conference Center B – Room 15

Session 3 - Assessing the Interpretive Mode  February 3            9am-1pm    Cost: $42

Using the ACTFL Interpretive performance rubric, we will assess student samples at the novice and intermediate levels.  We will align our assessments of student performance using inter-rater reliability and clearly establish performance levels.  Time will be given to work in level and language-like groups to further assess student samples.  Please bring samples of student work to share and collaboratively assess. Some samples will be provided in some languages.

*Please note: Location for the Session 3 is Conference Center B

Session 4 - Assessing the Interpersonal Mode  February 24          9am-1pm    Cost: $42

Using the ACTFL Interpersonal performance rubric, we will assess student samples at the novice and intermediate levels.  We will align our assessments of student performance using inter-rater reliability and clearly establish performance levels.  Time will be given to work in level and language-like groups to further assess student samples.  Please bring samples of student work (video or audio recording or a script) to share and collaboratively assess. Some samples will be provided in some languages.

*Please note: Location for the Session 4 is Conference Center B

Session 5 - Assessing the Presentational Mode  April 14     9am-1pm    Cost: $42

Using the ACTFL Presentational performance rubric, we will assess student samples at the novice and intermediate levels.  We will align our assessments of student performance using inter-rater reliability and clearly establish performance levels.  Time will be given to work in level and language-like groups to further assess student samples.  Please bring samples of student work to share and collaboratively assess. Some samples will be provided in some languages.

*Please note: Location for the Session 5 is Conference Center A

Register for 4 sessions for $145        Register for all 5 sessions for $185