LAS Links Placement Test

The LAS Links Placement Test is designed for schools and districts to support initial identification and placement in instructional programs for newly enrolled students. It is designed to complement LAS Links and provides a screening tool for qualified school personnel to administer, score, and interpret results for the placement of students in appropriate English Language Learner programs.

The test is structured around the four major language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, with a balance of constructed-response and multiple-choice items. A combination of tasks allows for an easy way to screen students’ basic level of English proficiency. The LAS Links Placement Test considers that students coming into classrooms faced with higher language demands to participate in instruction. The test is based on three dimensions of language proficiency: conversational fluency (communicative language), discrete English skills (specific aspects of English linguistic knowledge), and academic language.

The tasks included in these short tests were carefully selected to evaluate the following skills:

  • Social: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) includes intercultural and instructional communication. BICS are language skills needed in social situations. This day-to-day language is needed to interact socially with other people. English Language Learners employ BIC skills when they are on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone. Social interactions are usually context embedded. They occur in a meaningful social context. They are not very demanding cognitively. The language required is not specialized.
  • Academic: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) refers to formal academic learning. This includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material. This level of language learning is essential for students to succeed in school. Students need time and support to become proficient in academic areas. Academic language acquisition is not limited to the understanding of content area vocabulary also includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring. Academic language tasks are context reduced. Information is read from a textbook or presented by the teacher. As a student gets older the context of academic tasks becomes more and more reduced.

    • The LAS Links Placement Test enables your program to:

    • Quickly and easily test for initial placement of K-12 students
    • Align with College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS)
    • Assess speaking, listening, reading, and writing
    • Administer with paper/pencil
    • Complete assessments in just 30 minutes
    • NOTE: Results correspond with LAS Links Forms C and D and Español B