Oyster Proficiency Test
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Anonymous
| I have a 3rd grade child at a DCPS bilingual school. We are thinking of moving IB for Oyster. What is the proficiency test like? My child is on grade level in Spanish reading and we speak Spanish at home, but she is incredibly shy and hesitant around new people. It’s pretty extreme and something we are working on. I could see her clamming up in an oral interview situation. Just curious about the format. |
Anonymous
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If she is transferring from a dcps or charter Spanish bilingual school she doesn’t need to take the Spanish test.
This is per the enrollment handbook. |
Anonymous
Is that true for transferring from bilingual charters? I thought it was only true for students transferring from another DCPS bilingual school. (Not that it matters for OP since her child is in DCPS!) |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| What sort of annual assessments are done for Spanish at Oyster. Do they do an oral proficiency exam like the ACTFL uses? Do they give you a rating card? I’m trying to understand what is normal from school to school, because our school gives zero to no data, making it difficult to chart growth. |
Anonymous
My chidkren are at Oyster and have 3 assessments each year (beginning, middle and end) to assess their Spanish reading level and make sure they’re on track. It’s a 1:1 assessment with the teacher, not written. No asssessment for speaking or written Spanish proficiency tests at that age, to my knowledge. I’m not sure about older grades. |
Anonymous
| In the 8th grade students take the Spanish AP test. My kids class scored 4s and 5s. This is a college level test. |
Anonymous
We are at an immersion charter and the kids take MAP Spanish 2-3 times a year depending on grade. It’s great because you can actually see where your kid stands nationwide. We don’t speak any Spanish or do outside support. DS teachers tell us he is doing well in Spanish but we can’t gauge it since we don’t know any spanish. But we do know that he does really well on MAP so things correlate |
Anonymous
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Is this a new policy? 6 years ago my DD attended LAMB and applied to OA for 5th & had to take the proficiency test. (she passed, but did not accept the seat offered to her) |
Anonymous
New poster here. I believe it is new. I've been paying attention to that section of the handbook for a few years, and at least a year or two ago, bilingual charter school kids entering grades 2 and up had to take a test. Kids coming from a DCPS bilingual program did not. I was at an OA open house about 4 years ago, and that was what the then-principal said as well. |
Anonymous
I was told the exemption is only for kids coming from a DCPS bilingual. My daughter is one and she did not have to take the test |
Anonymous
| We know a 5th grader this year who transferred from LAMB to OA and had to take the Spanish proficiency test. |
Anonymous
Sounds like she could have cited that part of the handbook and not had to take it. |
Anonymous
| Oyster is a mess. Easiest to take the test and move on. It’s not hard. |
Anonymous
I think the teachers are generally good (some great). However, the principal is a disaster. If there are any behavioral problems that aren’t as bad as what he witnessed at JR, he thinks things are fine. He will also dismiss your concerns and act like you’re bothering him. |