Instructions for Administering the Diagnostic Placement Exam for Spanish Heritage
Speakers
The exam should take no more than one hour to administer. There are three separate
sections of the exam as follows:
1. Diagnostic Placement Exam – Objective portion which includes vocabulary,
grammar, listening, and reading
2. Writing Portion
3. Proficiency (speaking) Portion
Students may be seated for the first two parts of the exam listed above in a large group.
Resources you will need to administer the exam:
 Computer with speakers
 A monitor for the written portion of the exam.
 Spanish teacher to administer the speaking portion of the exam to students
individually (either during the testing or at another time).
Suggested administration of the exam – you are not required to follow this format. Each
campus needs to follow the process that works best for them.
1. Make sure all students have the following items before beginning the test:
 Objective portion of placement test
 Scantron
 Pencil
2. Make sure the students write their name, date, school, and counselor on the
scantron.
3. Begin the test by playing the CD provided. The first 4 sections of the exam are
listening are included on the CD: Exercises A, B, C, and D.
4. Once the listening portion of the exam is completed (should take about 10
minutes at the most), allow students to continue working on the objective portion.
As students finish the objective portion, they need to turn in their exam and
scantron before being handed the writing portion of the exam.
5. If the proficiency (speaking) testing is going to take place during the testing, the
Spanish teacher should be ready to start pulling students individually as soon as
the listening portion of the test is finished. Each interview should last no longer
than 3 – 5 minutes.
6. Make sure all student materials: objective portion of test, Scantron, proficiency
rubric (filled out by interviewer), and the writing portion are all put together with
a paper clip.
7. Return testing materials to the department chair at the high school level.
8. The test is designed to take students who have some proficiency in the language
to be able to finish within 45 minutes. If a little additional time is needed, they
may take ask long as 60 minutes. If students have completed at least 3 of the 4
pairs of writing prompts by the end of 60 minutes, they should be considered
finished with the exam. This IS NOT a timed test, but they if a student cannot
complete the exam within 60 minutes, that in itself gives us information on
whether they would be appropriately placed in Spanish for Spanish Speakers.
Instructions to the Middle School Counselor to prepare for testing students:
1. Identify students who have signed up for Spanish for Spanish Speakers.
2. Determine when the students will test.
3. Contact the Department Chair at the High School to let them know when you plan
to test and how many students will be testing (they will be making the copies).
a. Bush – Chase Ethington
b. Hightower – Lily Ann Graff
c. Kempner – Sally Stein
d. Marshall – Sandra Rocha
e. Travis – Melissa Vargas
f. Willowridge – Edith Guerra
4. Speak with your campus Spanish teacher to arrange a time for them to help with
the interview process. If that is not going to be possible, let the department chair
at the high school know that you will need to schedule a time after 3:00 p.m. for
the HS teacher to come over to interview students. It is hoped that the middle
school teacher will be able to help with this process, however, depending on the
number of students you have to test, one teacher may not be sufficient.
5. Department chairs are being sent the exams and will provide all tests and answer
sheets.
6. Call if you have questions! If your campus Spanish teacher has any questions, I
can be contacted by email or at 41237.
Instructions for Department Chairs to prepare for testing.
1. If you haven’t heard from a counselor at your feeder school(s) by Wednesday of
this week, please make contact with the 8th grade counselor at your feeder
campuses.
2. Make copies of the exams and get scantrons for each student. The writing section
of the exam includes the answer sheet they will need to use.
3. Make arrangements with your SpSpSpeakers teacher to go over to the campus(es),
if necessary. Ask the counselor if the Spanish teacher at the school will be
helping and when.
4. Have copies ready to go on the day of testing.
5. Make answer key (Scantron) using the answer key provided.
6. Help any way you can with administration of the exam.
7. Once you get the exams back, you will need to handle the scoring the same way
that you have always done. If this is your first time to do this, my suggestion is
that you try to help facilitate the scoring portion as much as you can.
8. Report the results to the middle school counselor and copy me when you do.
Please do this within 7 days of the administration of the exam.
9. If you identify any students that you think should be placed in a higher level of
Spanish or might be better served by testing out of Spanish I and taking II (CBE),
I need that information immediately. The deadline for April testing applications
(March 10) will be past, but we can make exceptions if we get that information by
no later than March 30. Otherwise, those students will be required to test in April.
10. Questions? Call me….. 41237
Materials for packet to take to Middle School:
_______ Objective portion of exam – one copy per student (7 pages)
_______ CD
_______ Scantrons – one per student
_______Writing section – one copy per student (2 pages)
_______Oral Interview Questions – Three copies (one for each interviewer)
_______Oral Assessment Rubric – one copy per student (on full page – copy and cut in
half)
_______Instructions for administering exam