Burning Questions 1: STAMP Test Scoring

Welcome to Burning Questions. This video series is dedicated to exploring the tough questions and comments from educators and district administrators about testing, data, and the STAMP (STAndards-based Measurement of Proficiency) test. Carl Falsgraf, Co-Founder of Avant Assessment is joined by Victor Santos, Director of Assessment and Research at Avant Assessment to answer some of the Burning Questions we receive. To start the series, Carl and Victor consider the implications of the question “One of my ‘A’ students scored a level 3 on STAMP, and one of my ‘C’ students scored a level 4. How is this possible?” Typically, school grading scales are based on student performance in the classroom, whether or not they complete their homework, test scores, and extra class participation. Some students thrive in this standardized class and testing format. Your students' levels of language proficiency are only gauged by Avant's Assessments. Proficiency doesn’t always rely on language skills learned outside of the classroom. Sometimes, students can pick up skills from unexpected outside sources, which can prove to be helpful for non-standardized format tests like STAMP. At the end of the day, the answer to the question of ‘How is it possible that a “C” student outscored an “A” student on STAMP?’ lies in their individual path to proficiency. It also depends on the kind of data that you deem valuable in your classroom assessments versus in STAMP. Because one focuses on a student’s success in the classroom while the other focuses on real-world proficiency in a language.