Writing

Writing is a core element of literacy. Avant STAMP pioneered the use of Internet technology to assess writing for large numbers of students cost-effectively. For the first time, substantial data on students’ writing proficiency levels became available to educators to analyze and improve proficiency levels in their programs.

In STAMP and other Avant assessments, test takers receive prompts describing real-world situations that they respond to by typing into software that captures their responses. The responses are sent through the Internet to Avant servers where they are collected and distributed to Avant’s raters around the world. Through web trainings and its Rater Connection software, Avant trains and certifies its raters in the Avant benchmarks, which are aligned to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Avant actively and continuously manages its raters to assure consistent and accurate rating. Avant’s inter-rater reliability is consistently above 90%. We have provided a full report on Avant’s rater software system and inter-rater reliability statistics in the Product Research section of the website.

Speaking

Speaking is the essence of communication, but has been challenging to assess accurately and in a cost effective way. Avant pioneered the use of Internet technology to assess speaking for large numbers of students. For the first time, substantial data on students’ speaking proficiency levels became available for educators to analyze and improve proficiency levels in their programs.

In STAMP and other Avant assessments, test takers receive prompts describing real-world situations that they respond to through a microphone in their headsets. Their responses are sent through the Internet to Avant servers where they are collected and distributed to Avant’s raters around the world. The raters have been trained and certified in the Avant benchmarks aligned to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines through individual trainings and our Rater Connection software. Avant actively manages the raters to assure consistent and accurate rating. Avant’s inter-rater reliability is consistently above 90%. We have provided a full report on Avant’s rater software system and inter-rater reliability statistics in the Product Research section of the website.

Reading

Avant’s assessments measure real world reading skills in a way that replicates the experience a student would have in the country and culture where the language is spoken. The texts are curriculum-neutral and focus upon everyday life experience in the target country. The questions are all designed to push the test taker to actively engage with the text in order to find the correct answer. Across Avant’s assessments we use a number of different item (question) types such as traditional multiple choice, picture or zone click, and multiple answer choice. STAMP and our other proficiency assessments are adaptive, and computer scored using a Computer Adaptive Multi-Stage test design that identifies a student’s reading level quickly and accurately.

Computer Adaptive Multi-Stage Test Designs

Listening

Avant’s assessments measure real world listening skills in a way that replicates the experience a student would have in the country and culture where the language is spoken. The audio passages are curriculum-neutral. The questions are all designed to push the test taker to actively listen to the passage in order to find the correct answer. Across Avant’s assessments we use a number of different item (question) types such as traditional multiple choice, picture or zone click, and multiple answer choice. STAMP and our other proficiency assessments are adaptive, and computer scored using a Computer Adaptive Multi-Stage test design that identifies a student’s listening level quickly and accurately.