ACTFL's ASL AAPPL Assessment Available September 15

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ­­­ACTFL® is releasing its first assessment of American Sign Language (ASL) through the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL). This assessment measures performance and proficiency for Deaf/deaf individuals, Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs), and ASL learners. The ASL AAPPL will be available to order on September 15, in time for the new school year, through Language Testing International® (LTI), the exclusive licensee of ACTFL assessments.

The ASL AAPPL is designed for students in grades 9-12 and will be the only ASL assessment to provide an official score from ACTFL, aligned with proficiency levels Novice to Advanced according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines - 2024. This assessment offers ASL users and learners the opportunity to provide evidence to earn the Seal of Biliteracy, as well as provides educators the ability to benchmark and track their learners' progress.

"The ASL AAPPL represents years of dedicated development, incorporating the expertise of Deaf/deaf and hearing ASL experts from both secondary and post-secondary contexts. What sets this assessment apart is its comprehensive assessment of both Interpersonal Interaction (II) and Receptive Comprehension (RC), providing a holistic understanding of an individual's ASL proficiency," said Margaret Malone, Ph. D., Director of Assessment and Research. "This rigorous approach ensures accurate and reliable results, fostering confidence in the assessment's validity."

This new assessment has been developed over several years through an extensive process, which included:

• Valuable input from an advisory committee of both Deaf/deaf and hearing ASL experts at the post-secondary and secondary levels.
  
  
• Iterative pilot testing to ensure accuracy and fairness.
  
  
• Rigorous standard-setting to establish clear rating consensus aligned with the  ACTFL ratings being assessed

The development of this assessment was inspired by the need to address issues of equity for underrepresented groups within the ASL community. ACTFL invites educators, ASL users, and ASL learners to explore this new assessment and its potential to promote ASL proficiency and recognition.

About ACTFL:
Providing vision, leadership and support for quality teaching and learning of languages, ACTFL is an individual membership organization of language educators and administrators from elementary through graduate education, as well as government and industry. Since its founding in 1967, ACTFL has become synonymous with innovation, quality, and reliability in meeting the changing needs of language educators and their learners. It is where the world's educators, businesses, and government agencies go to advance the practice of language learning.

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SOURCE ACTFL