District staff presented results from the May 2025 Los Links Español Spanish-language proficiency assessment at the Sept. 22 Committee of the Whole, saying most students in grades 3–8 scored at or near proficiency in speaking and that writing results were particularly strong at higher grades. Staff emphasized the test measures language proficiency — not academic achievement — and that the district will use the results to set student growth goals and target reading strategies in upcoming professional learning.

Presenter Mrs. Kramer described the exam as a four-domain Spanish proficiency test (speaking, listening, reading and writing) normed with U.S. and Latin American samples and administered by grade-band (K–1, 2–3, 4–5, 6–8). Kramer said proficiency levels range from 1 (beginning) to 5 (above proficient); level 4 is described as “proficient” and level 5 as “above proficient,” with twelfth grade given as the end expectation for students to reach the highest levels in a K–12 pathway.

Kramer said the district’s highest domain scores were in speaking and writing at the upper grades: staff reported that about 70% of third graders, and roughly two-thirds of fourth- and fifth-graders, scored proficient in speaking; among middle-school grades staff said about 64% of sixth- and seventh-graders and roughly 73% of eighth-graders were proficient or above in speaking. Kramer said writing showed comparatively high results in older grades: 77% of eighth-graders scored proficient or above in writing; district staff credited systematic phonics and an instructional model that focuses professional learning on speaking and writing strategies.

On reading Kramer said most students in K–6 scored at lower proficiency bands in reading compared with speaking and writing, and staff identified reading as the domain with the greatest opportunity for additional growth. Kramer said staff will embed reading strategies into dual-language curriculum and use Los Links growth expectations to set student growth goals; the district plans to compare students’ results to the assessment’s expected year-to-year gain next year to evaluate progress.

Kramer said the district will offer a parent university session Oct. 8 to explain results to families and provide guidance for supporting language development in the home. Board members praised the district’s work and asked about transition pathways; Kramer and staff said local receiving high schools review placement with placement testing and that the district’s earliest dual-language cohort had been placed into appropriate freshman-level Spanish courses at the high school level.