Our students’ accomplishments on national language exams and on the Advanced Placement tests are regularly worthy of celebration, and it was no different in 2016. On behalf of my colleagues in the Foreign Language Dept., it is my privilege to share these results with parents as a testament to the strength of our language programs.
National Exam Results
In March many of our students had opportunities to take part in national tests administered to hundreds of thousands of students. These assessments give students a chance to win honors and awards for academic excellence in the target language, and give teachers a chance to gauge the effectiveness and rigor of their curriculum. The summaries below report only the highest awards for each language.
Mr. Sabre’s French students encountered technical difficulties with their online exam, and yet seven students in levels 1-3 earned medals in Le Grand Concours, the National French Contest. Three students scored at or above the 75th percentile and earned bronze medals. Additionally, two students won silver medals for achieving even higher scores: Two students admirably scored in or above the 95th percentile and earned gold medals.
Students in Spanish 3, 4, and AP classes did an exceptional job on the National Spanish Exam, with 44 of them earning medals. In Spanish 3 (taught by Mr. Fischer and Mrs. Stevenson), bronze medals were awarded to fourteen Spanish 3 students for scores in the 75th-84th percentile, and eleven students at this level earned silver medals for scores in the 85th-94th percentile. There was also one gold medal at this level earned with a performance in the 95th percentile or above. In Spanish 4, taught by Mrs. Stevenson and Mrs. Schott, six students earned bronze medals, seven earned silver medals, and one earned gold. Four AP Spanish students taught by Mrs. Schott earned bronze medals.
In Latin, a total of 23 students from Mr. Habel’s Latin 1 through Advanced Placement classes earned medals (gold or silver only) on the National Latin Exam. A set of 16 reached the 77th-88th percentile and earned silver medals. Finally, seven students placed in or above the 89th percentile and took home gold medals in recognition of their achievements.
Advanced Placement (AP) Exam Results
Our fifth-year language students also take the AP exam in May and potentially earn college credit by achieving scores of 3, 4, or 5. We are so very proud of our students whose dedication yielded fine scores on the AP French, Spanish, and Latin tests last year! In French, six students earned 3s and the class of nine had an average mark of 2.67. Students in AP Spanish truly excelled! 100% of those 18 students earned a score of 3 or above: five students earned a score of 5, eleven earned the mark of 4, and two students scored 3s. The DHS mean score was an amazing 4.17! On the AP Latin exam seven students made for a class average score of 4.00, with more 5s (three) and 4s (two) than any other score. So much for the bell curve!
Building Excellence
Results like these bespeak the bottom-to-top strength of our language curricula and instructional methods, and attest to skill of all the teachers in our program. Clearly, the honor goes to our hardworking students, but as a teacher and the parent of a D’Evelyn alumnus, it gives me great confidence in our school to see our students achieving at such a level. I hope that these results have similarly impressed you!
The PHurrowed Brow 