Assessment of Student Learning

In order for students to get a good grasp of a foreign language, they need to be using the language regularly and repeatedly. For that reason, a part of my students' grade will reflect his or her class participation using this rubric:

	4	3	2	1	Score
Class Preparation	You bring all materials to class. Your materials are well organized. You are ready to work when the bell rings.	You usually bring all materials to class. You are ready to work when the bell rings.	You frequently “forget” to bring required materials to class. (And/Or) You are often not ready to begin when the bell rings.	You frequently have to ask to borrow materials. You are rarely ready to begin when the bell rings. You “forget” to remove chicle.
Class Participation	Your hand is always raised and you attempt longer, more difficult responses.	Your hand is often raised to participate during class activities.	Your hand is seldom raised to participate in class; you only try the “easy ones.”	You do not volunteer to contribute to the class.
Listening	You actively listen when the teacher and fellow students speak in Spanish. You are consistently able to follow complex directions and respond to comprehension questions after listening to tapes, CDs, video or teacher lectures in Spanish.	You actively listen when the teacher speaks in Spanish. You can accurately follow most directions and attempt to respond to questions after listening to tapes, CDs, video or teacher lectures in Spanish.	You sometimes listen when the teacher speaks. You sometimes are able to follow directions given in Spanish, but often have to check to see what other students are doing. You are sometimes able to grasp main ideas and respond after listening to tapes, CDs, video or teacher lectures in Spanish.	You “tune out” when the teacher begins speaking in Spanish. You rely on other students to tell you what to do in English. You are unable to respond to questions after listening to tapes, CDs, video, or teacher lectures given in Spanish.
Use of Spanish in Class	You stay in Spanish the entire class period. You initiate conversations in Spanish. You respond in Spanish with the teacher and classmates.	You always use Spanish to respond to the teacher and use Spanish with classmates during structured activities. You make all routine requests in Spanish.	You only use Spanish in structured class, group and pair activities. You initiate most other conversations or make responses and requests in English.	You almost exclusively use English when talking with the teacher and classmates. You speak as little Spanish as possible during class, pair and group activities.
Accuracy	You consistently use correct tense, word choice, subject-verb and noun-adjective agreement. You frequently self-correct.	You attempt to use correct tense, word choice, subject-verb and noun-adjective agreement. You pay attention to feedback and correction.	You make frequent errors of tense, word choice, subject-verb and noun-adjective agreement. You often ignore feedback and correction.	Your errors in tense, word choice, grammar or pronunciation would make what you say incomprehensible to a native speaker.

Written Assessments need to determine a student's grasp of the language in a variety of ways - listening, reading, and writing. This is a sample of a Spanish I test:

Examen de Español                                     Nombre                                    

Fecha                                                          Hora                                 

Matching. Put the corresponding letter next to the matching vocabulary word. Notice you will not use all of the letters!

         1. miércoles                                      A. Monday

                                                                B. Tuesday

         2. sábado                                         C. Wednesday

                                                                D. Thursday

         3. lunes                                            E. Friday

                                                                F. Saturday

         4. viernes                                         G. Sunday

         5. jueves

Fill In the Blank. Conjugate the verb given into the correct person present tense.

6. Yo                          (ir) a la biblioteca el lunes.

7. Tú                          (tener) tres gatos.

8. Nosotros                         (finir) nuestra cena.

9. Ellas                               (comprar) zapatos nuevos.

10. El                                 (querer) un regalo.

Multiple Choice. Choose the answer that best applies.

11. The capital city of the Aztecs was named

        a. Huitzilopochtli                        b. Cortes

        c. Toxcoco                                 d. Tenochtitla

True/False. Read the following passage and answer the questions below.

Jaques y Jillian va al cine con sus amigos el viernes. Las mujeres quieren ver una película romántica.  Los hombres prefieren una película de horror. Ellos eligen ver una comedia. Después de la película, todos los amigos tienen hambre y van al restaurante para comer.

11.             Los amigos van al cine el primer día de la semana.

12.             Los amigos ven una película comedia.

13.             Los amigos comen hamburguesas.

Short Answer. Answer the following question in Spanish using one or two complete sentences.

¿Que son sus comidas favoritas?

Brief essay. In English, do you think it is important to study a foreign language? Why or why not.