K-12 Webinars (2022)

Developing and Assessing Student Proficiency Using AAPPL
  • Dr. Nick Ziegler, Technology Integration Specialist and World Language Coordinator, Nebraska’s Educational Service Unit #5 (ESU5)
This webinar is focused on tips to help students develop proficiency as they progress in language programs and prepare for assessment. Dr. Nick Ziegler will share tips for preparing for the AAPPL, how he uses AAPPL scores to inform teaching strategies, and what makes the AAPPL a good match for his program needs.
 
He will share practical considerations useful for any language teacher or administrator, such as test administration strategies. and what to expect regarding the student experience taking the AAPPL. He’ll also explore why a teacher may want to administer select portions of the AAPPL or the full AAPPL test.
Preparing Students for the Seal of Biliteracy with the AAPPL
  • Emily Huff, Spanish Teacher, Denver High School
Preparing students to earn the Seal of Biliteracy is becoming an increasingly important priority for upper-level language classes. This webinar features helpful advice for teachers and districts on implementing the Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL). Teacher and AAPPL user, Emily Huff will share her experiences using the AAPPL and outline the features of the test. She will also share her plans for how to help students improve their overall proficiency and tips for teachers for guiding students towards demonstrating proficiency in their World Languages classes.

K-12 Webinars (2021)

The AAPPL, Useful Proficiency Data, and a Robust Reporting System
  • Andrew Bowen, Language Testing International
As part of the NECTFL 2021 virtual conference, we contributed this session on the usefulness of the AAPPL and the many data sorting/reporting tools that come along with it. Learn about this ACTFL-developed assessment, the proficiency-based data it renders, and reporting features that include comparison reports (to other students of yours or to national average), longitudinal data reports, and many more!

K-12 Webinars (2020)

Out of School Testing
  • Dr. Leah Graham, Director of Contracts & Certifications, ACTFL
  • Kim Sallee, Director of ACTFL Assessment Product Management, LTI
A full discourse on the at-home testing options offered for ACTFL Assessments.
2020 Seal of Biliteracy
Success Stories
  • Karina Boelter, Teacher, Hudson City School District, Ohio
  • Emily Huff, Teacher, Denver Community Schools, Iowa
  • Nicole Hanlon, Teacher, Buckeye Valley Local School District, Ohio
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

As part of the virtual CSCTFL event, three language educators shared their personal experiences with the at-home testing options for ACTFL Assessments. Several anecdotes were shared, along with helpful advice for those administering the AAPPL to students in a virtual world.

Awarding the Seal of Biliteracy with ACTFL Assessments
  • Michele Schreiner, World Languages Department Chair, Egg Harbor Township School District, New Jersey
  • Emily Huff, Teacher, Denver Community School District, Iowa
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

As part of the FLENJ Summer Refresher, two language educators enthusiastically shared their experiences with the AAPPL, ALIRA and OPI/WPT Bundle for Seal of Biliteracy. Languages in which these educators have offered testing range from Spanish and French to Gujarati and Latin.

How 'bout them AAPPLs? The Value of Testing for Proficiency
  • Justin Fisk, World Languages Department Head, Adlai E Stevenson HS District, Illinois
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

In this new world of online/hybrid education, this school district has awarded more Seals of Biliteracy than ever before thanks to the accessible and easily administered remote testing options for ACTFL Assessments. This District Supervisor recounted his experiences and shared his future plans for testing as a helpful guide for those looking to do the same.

Nationwide Patterns in Seal of Biliteracy Implementation
  • Dr. Margaret E. Malone, Director, Assessment and Evaluation Language Resource Center at Georgetown University
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

Most of what we know about how the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) is being implemented in U.S. high schools comes from case studies of individual states and districts (e.g. Heineke & Davin, 2020). However, in order to highlight broader patterns of implementation from across the U.S., Dr. Margaret E. Malone and Margaret Borowczyk (Assessment and Evaluation Language Resource Center at Georgetown University) share results from a nationwide survey of over 700 teachers and administrators regarding promotion, access, benefits, and drawbacks of the SoBL. The presentation focuses on the perceived effectiveness of different outreach strategies, the content of professional development around the SoBL, the impact on language teaching and assessment practices, and educators’ concerns about access and impact of the initiative.

K-12 Webinars (2019)

The Seal of Biliteracy, and its Implementation in both Public and Private Schools
  • Mary Jo Adams – World Languages Department Chair, Providence Day School, North Carolina
  • Lea Graner-Kennedy, World Languages Department Chair, Stonington Public Schools, Connecticut
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

A full discourse on the Seal of Biliteracy, its implementation in both private and public schools, and the washback effect observed in language classrooms nationwide. Perspectives from current language educators provided!

The AAPPL as a Catalyst for Change to Proficiency
  • Christi Gilliland, World Languages Department Chair, Williamson County Public Schools, Tennessee
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

As District World Language Curriculum Specialist, the presenter has attained actionable data that shows exactly where her students fall on the ACTFL Proficiency Scale. She recounts how she uses testing data to adjust curricula, set proficiency goals in classrooms, and observe tangible evidence of those goals being accomplished.

Administering the AAPPL and Implementing the Seal of Biliteracy in your Classroom
  • Jason Noble, Spanish Teacher at Pella Christian High School, Iowa, Past President of Iowa World Language Association

Beginning-to-end proficiency! Mr. Noble provides a ground-up description of how his school adopted a proficiency-focused curriculum and implemented the AAPPL and Seal of Biliteracy.

Data I Can Use After The AAPPL
  • Andy McDonie, French Teacher, Chillicothe High School, Ohio
  • Jen Carson, World Languages Coordinator, Virginia Beach City Public Schools

The shift from a ‘traditional’ grammar-focused curriculum to proficiency-based instruction, results uncovered in students, and the benefits to teachers and administrators district-wide.

Higher Ed Webinars

Using the OPI to Validate Proficiency Benchmarks at the US Air Force Academy
  • Pete Swanson, Ph.D, US Air Force Academy
  • Jean W. LeLoup, Ph.D, US Air Force Academy
  • Jennifer Dobberfuhl Quinlan, LTI

Communicative Language Teaching approaches have helped shift the paradigm of world language teaching and learning. Proficiency testing has now been prioritized where program coordinators and others set proficiency benchmarks for language learners to achieve. In this webinar, researchers at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA) describe their study that examined the oral proficiency of cadets studying Spanish. The aim of the study was to validate the proficiency benchmarks, codified in the Spanish Language Roadmap, which specifies proficiency goals for each of the four years of language study at USAFA.

Transforming Post-Secondary Language Programs
with Proficiency Testing
  • Dr. Le Anne Spino-Seijas, Spanish Instructor and Proficiency Coordinator, The University of Rhode Island
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI

A full discourse on the at-home testing options offered for ACTFL Assessments.


The ACTFL Proficiency Placement Test (APPT)
  • Dr. Meg Malone, Director of Assessment, Research and Development, ACTFL
  • Dr. Camelot Marshall, Principal Assessment Manager, ACTFL
  • Andrew Bowen, LTI
The ACTFL Proficiency Placement Test (APPT) is an all-online, non-proctored, and proficiency-based placement tool developed by ACTFL. Dr. Malone and Dr. Marshall from the ACTFL Center for Assessment, Research and Development detail the content and development of the APPT in this webinar; LTI covers the convenience and ease of the platform used to order assessments, send to students anywhere, and collect valuable proficiency data.
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