CASLS is working with the New Jersey Department of Education to provide French, German, Japanese, and Spanish proficiency testing and detailed student performance data for eighth grade New Jersey students. STAMP, the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency, assesses student performance in both reading and speaking components. Participating school districts receive individual student reports and aggregated test data for their schools as well as an analysis of the assessment data to determine if their world language programs are proficiency based. Teachers receive both onsite and online training on how to evaluate and adjust pedagogic practice on the basis of student performance data, leading to improved student learning in the classroom. This continuous program improvement will enable increasing numbers of students to meet the goals of the world language content standards.

Additionally, CASLS is working with New Jersey schools to produce a detailed analysis relating student proficiency to various student demographic factors. The immediate goal of the project is to develop concrete improvement plans for individual teachers and schools in New Jersey. In this way, assessment, professional learning, and policy development are integrated in a statewide model with the overarching goal to provide universal access to quality world language education for K-8 students. The results of this research will be disseminated nationally with the aim of catalyzing systemic change in K-8 world language education throughout the U.S.