Important Update: Avant STAMP Testing Plan & Next Steps
Quick Summary / Update for Families:
Thank you to all the families who were able to answer our survey regarding STAMP testing for all students.
The Big News: Due to limited survey responses and the loss of our state grant, we cannot test all student groups this year. However, due to support from families, some donations, and a small balance of tests, we are going to be able to move forward with testing just Level 4 courses this year!
Next Steps for Level 4 Families:
Thank you again for your support! If you responded that you were able to cover the test, please have your student bring in just $20 in cash (easier) or in a check made out to Wilmington High School, to your student’s Level 4 teacher.
We do not need the $22.90-$24.90 we were originally asking for. The reason for the lower cost is that Avant has been kind enough to honor their lowest rate we purchased these tests in previous years.
If you offered to donate to the exams, please include that amount and I will be creating receipts for both payment and donations made. If for some reason we have more monies raised than were needed I will reach out to those families.
If you did not respond that you would be willing to pay, or just did not respond to the survey in time, feel free to reach out, but we have enough support for remaining students to test all students.
The STAMP test will serve as your student's final exam. It is an adaptive test, so it will be challenging, but grading is carefully scaled by target proficiency level so students are not penalized.
Teachers will reach out shortly with exact testing dates, but will be starting next week to allow enough time to get comfortable with the testing platform again.
For Families of Students in Levels 1-3: The students will be taking regular final exams. These exams have been adapted over the last few years to replicate the style of testing STAMP does, but will not be the STAMP test itself and just follow regular final exam scheduling. You do not have to do anything else at this time. Next school year we will be able to test all students grades 9-12 using the STAMP Test, but we will send that update out in September when school begins.
Why It Matters: The STAMP test provides vital proficiency data (similar to MCAS for other areas). Our program continues to thrive: 11.1% of our 2026 graduating class earned the Seal of Biliteracy, outperforming last year's state-beating numbers.
For the full breakdown of survey numbers, exam grading details, and an FAQ regarding local grant funding, underclassmen baseline testing, and heritage languages, please read the full text below or check out our latest blog post here. Link:
Full Update and FAQ
Dear Wilmington Public Schools Families,
Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to our recent Avant STAMP testing interest survey. Your feedback has been invaluable as we figure out the best path forward for our World Language students and the messages of support and very generous offers of donations were heart-warming and so encouraging! Thank you!
Below is a summary of our results, an explanation of why this assessment is so vital, and our adjusted testing plan for the remainder of the school year.
Survey Summary & Our Adjusted Plan
Our original goal was to test all 403 world language students in grades 9–11. We received 129 total replies (32% of students/families) to our interest survey. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community and some additional resources, here is where our testing ultimately ended up based on those results:
Families willing to cover their student's fee: 107
Families/Sponsors offering to cover fees: 64 tests ($1,465.00)
Test Credits from last year's inventory: 53 tests
Total Tests Secured: 224 tests
While these numbers are highly encouraging, we had not heard from enough stakeholders to move forward with testing all students. We did land at an impressive 44% of our school-wide goal but remained $3,984.60 short of the funding needed to test all current world language students. Since we are operating without the universal state grant funding we had last year, we are unable to run testing for all student groups across the board.
The fantastic news is that between the survey responses, existing department resources, and community support, we have enough committed funds to test all Level 4 students (French 4, Italian 4, and Spanish 4)!
If you responded that you were able to cover the test, please have your student bring in just $20, not the $22.90-$24.90 we were originally asking. Avant has been kind enough to honor their lowest rate we purchased these tests at.
What Level 4 Families Need to Know
If your student is currently enrolled in a Level 4 world language class, please note the following crucial updates regarding the upcoming test:
Final Exam Replacement: The STAMP test will officially serve as the final exam grade for all Level 4 students. This is the same as last year for all Level 3 students.
Adaptive Design: The STAMP test is an adaptive assessment. As students answer correctly, the test dynamically increases in difficulty to find the absolute "ceiling" of their language abilities. It is completely normal - and expected - for your student to encounter vocabulary and structures they have not yet been taught.
Fair, Scaled Grading: Because the exam is designed to find the “ceiling” for students’ proficiency, we do not grade it on a traditional straight scale. Grading expectations are carefully customized and scaled for each specific course level. Historically, because of this scaling, students perform just as well on the STAMP as they do on our standard in-house exams. Furthermore, our high school teachers deliberately modeled their midyear exams after this proficiency-based format to ensure students feel comfortable with the layout.
A Critical Year for French 4: Testing is especially important for our French 4 class. Because French 5 courses do not have enough enrolled students to run next year, this upcoming STAMP exam will be the primary tool used to determine these students' eligibility for the Seal of Biliteracy or regional biliteracy awards before they graduate next year.
Next Steps
Your student's World Language teacher will be reaching out shortly with specific testing dates and classroom preparation details.
Why the STAMP Test Matters
For our department, the Avant STAMP (Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency) assessment is the closest equivalent we have to MCAS data for World Languages. Rather than just testing memorized chapter vocabulary, it gives us an accurate, real-time look at true language proficiency. For your reference, at the end of this update there is a chart from the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines to help understand the difference between Proficiency and Performance (the more typical high school assessment format at the end of a unit).
Our students' hard work with this program has already yielded incredible results:
Outpacing the State: In our 2025 graduating class, 9.9% of seniors earned the Seal of Biliteracy, flying past the Massachusetts state average of 6.8%.
Current Momentum: In this year’s graduating class 11.1% earned the Seal of Biliteracy. We do not have this year’s state numbers yet for comparison. 44% of our graduating seniors received certificates and medals for biliteracy proficiency ranging from Intermediate to Advanced, with that group earning an average STAMP score of 5.4, the equivalent of Intermediate Mid level of proficiency.
Additionally, I have added some FAQs and important information that came up in the survey questions that I feel is important to share.
Thank you again for your incredible partnership, flexibility, and dedication to global literacy here in Wilmington. If you have any immediate questions regarding grading or logistics, please feel free to reach out.
Warm regards,
Carlos-Luis Brown
Avant STAMP Testing & Seal of Biliteracy: Frequently Asked Questions
Thank you to the families who left detailed feedback and questions in our recent interest survey. We want to ensure all parents have complete clarity regarding the purpose, funding, and long-term value of language proficiency testing. Below, we address several specific topics raised by our community.
1. Funding Changes & The MBTA Communities Act Vote
Q: How is our world language grant funding connected to local housing votes, and will this impact be shared with town leadership?
A: Our school and district leadership are entirely aware of how these external decisions affect our students. Due to recent changes in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) funding stipulations, certain state grant opportunities—including the one that fully funded our STAMP testing last year—became unavailable to us as a direct consequence of the town's current MBTA Communities non-compliance status. That also meant that the grant for this past academic year (totalling around $30,000) was ineligible for funding this last year. District administrators were already actively calculating the impacts of those grants earlier this year which were not limited to world languages.
2. Testing for Languages Not Taught in School
Q: Can a student take the STAMP test for a language they know or speak fluently, even if they aren't studying it at WHS?
A: Absolutely. We deeply value heritage languages and bilingualism in all forms. The Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy recognizes proficiency in any eligible world language, not just the three taught in our classrooms. However, because our funding and test inventory are highly limited this year, our subsidized school-day testing is strictly reserved for students currently enrolled in our Level 4 courses. If you would like your student to take a STAMP assessment in a non-WHS language to qualify for the Seal, please contact me directly, and I will be happy to help coordinate.
3. Testing Early (Grades 9 & 10) vs. Waiting for Senior Year
Q: If my student is nowhere near proficient yet, why test them early? How does this data actually help guide classroom teaching?
Apprehension: It is entirely normal for underclassmen to feel unready - the STAMP test is an adaptive benchmark meant to measure growth over time, not a traditional exam students are expected to "perfect" right away.
Establishing a Baseline: Testing early establishes a vital proficiency baseline. By seeing exactly where a student hits their "ceiling" in reading, writing, listening, and speaking, teachers gain immediate data on specific skills.
Guiding Instruction: For example, if the data shows an entire 10th-grade cohort excels at reading but struggles with spontaneous speaking, teachers can instantly adjust their daily classroom practices to emphasize oral communication. This targeted instruction ensures that by the time they reach their junior or senior year, they have filled those gaps and are fully prepared to earn the Seal of Biliteracy.
Teacher Goals: This year the entire World Languages Department set a department goal of analyzing and adapting instruction based on the data from the previous 2 years of STAMP data we have available. We reviewed data at the macro level as a program, by levels, by languages, and at the individual student level. STAMP data is very important for our work moving forward.
4. Student Outcomes & The Long-Term Benefits
Q: What are the concrete benefits of taking this exam, and how does earning the Seal of Biliteracy affect student outcomes?
A: Earning the Seal of Biliteracy is a prestigious distinction that carries tangible academic and professional advantages:
College Credit & Placement: Many state universities and colleges award actual college credits or advanced course placement to students who graduate with the Seal of Biliteracy on their high school transcript.
Career Edge: In a global workforce, having an objective, state-certified designation of bilingualism gives students a significant competitive advantage on resumes, college applications, and internship opportunities.
Proven Track Record: Our students consistently thrive under this proficiency framework. Last year, 9.9% of Wilmington seniors successfully earned the Seal of Biliteracy (flying past the Massachusetts state average of 6.8%), and this year, that number was 11.1%, with 44% of our graduating seniors are on track to receive biliteracy recognition. The STAMP test is the essential tool that helps us unlock and verify these exceptional student outcomes.
Read More:
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - Table, p. 7
Link to full document: ACTFL_Proficiency_Guidelines_2024.pdf
.jpg)
