Abstract:
The IDEA Proficiency Tests were designed to evaluate proficiency in Spanish for children from the age of 3 years through the 12th grade. The Reading/Writing test may be given independently of the Oral test, but both tests would be needed for an overall assessment of language ability. The Oral Proficiency tests of Spanish were designed to determine the proficiency level of students who are native speakers of other languages and who are being considered for placement in Spanish as a Foreign Language programs. These tests are administered individually using an easel-style book with pictures which correspond to test questions. The domains tested are Syntax, Morphological Structure, Lexical Items, Phonological Structure, Comprehension, and Oral Production. Examinees continue progressing through levels of difficulty until they reach their proficiency ceiling. The resulting classifications are Non-, Limited, or Fluent Spanish-Speaking. There are three levels of the Oral tests: The Pre-IPT (ages 3-5); The IPT 1 (K-6); and the IPT 2 (grades 7-12). The Reading and Writing tests in Spanish are used to assess the reading and writing skills of children with other native languages for placement purposes. These Reading tests include multiple-choice items in several domains: 1) Vocabulary, in which one of four words is chosen to describe a picture, 2) Vocabulary in Context, in which one of four words is chosen to complete a sentence, 3) Reading and Understanding, in which a prose passage is followed by related comprehension questions like those in Vocabulary in Context, 4) Reading for Life Skills, which has the same format as Reading and Understanding, but uses product labels, street signs, and popular print , and 5) Language Usage which emphasizes grammar and punctuation used in writing. Scoring may be done by hand or by machine. The Writing tests have three sections: 1) Conventions, in which a multiple-choice sentence completion task tests knowledge in writing conventions like capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviations, 2) Write a Story, in which the examinee writes a few sentences to describe a picture story, and 3) Write Your Own Story, in which the examinee writes a brief argumentative essay or a short narrative paragraph, depending on the level. Examinees taking both the Reading and the Writing test may be given either the Language Usage portion of the Reading test or the Conventions portion of the Writing test, but not both. The Reading/Writing tests have three levels: The IPT 1 (grades 2,3), the IPT 2 (grades 4-6), and the IPT 3 (grades 7-12). Scoring of the writing samples is done using a set of rubrics and examples of student writing for each level of scoring. Norming studies and estimates of reliability and validity are available for all of the test.