Important things to know about our language assessments and how they are rated and graded in our World Language Program:
Most of our language assessments at every level (7th grade through 12th grade) are performance based. Performance assessments allow our learners to demonstrate their language skills through real world tasks and scenarios. Learners are able to practice targeted skills throughout each unit by completing tasks in class, as homework, collaborative activities, projects and formative assessments.
At the end of each unit of study the learners take a summative assessment that requires the learners to use speak, listen, read, and write. In addition to this, there are numerous opportunities for students to demonstrate their proiciency in the four areas.
The learners' performance is rated using a scale that describes the levels of proficiency used in World Languages. The descriptors in the rubric are part of national and state descriptors for all levels of language; Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Below you can click on information and resources for further information on the targeted levels for each course and what each level means. This will help you understand what your child will be able to do in the language at each level.
The Utah state core proficiency targets are aligned with the Davis School District course proficiency targets based on how much time learners have spent learning a language. These proficiency levels and indicators are described in our DESK standards.
Language Learners in our schools, professionals of all kinds, and the U.S. military use these performance descriptors and proficiency levels to determine a person's level of proficiency in a language. They are the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Performance Descriptors.
The proficiency outcomes rubric has abbreviated descriptors in each column for each mode. For much more detailed descriptors please refer to the link here: ACTFL Performance Descriptors.
Davis School District language students can track their progress on tracking forms similar to this one. At the end of each grading period for all courses in grades 7-12, the learners will receive a rating that relates to a level on the rubric.
This rating describes the level of language the learner is able to sustain consistently at least 80% of the time on skill-based tasks.
Parents (and students) can track how well their child is doing at each grading period and what level of proficiency they must set as their goal in order to reach the next level and/or attain their desired grade at the end of the course. It is important to note that a beginning level of proficiency for each course is not the desired level for the end of the course.
