Testing the language proficiency of bilingual teachers: Arizona's Spanish proficiency test

Currently in the USA, a total of 28 states offer bilingual teacher certification and/or endorsement. Of these states, 17 require that the prospective teachers dem onstrate proficiency in their second language, in English, or in both languages. In the context of nationwide bilingual teacher testing procedures, this article describes a criterion-referenced test for bilingual endorsement used in Arizona. Test scores and questionnaires provided information with respect to classification depend ability and rater consistency. Examinee questionnaire responses, teacher question naire responses and test section analysis all contributed evidence for validity. As a result of this study, further research on testing teachers' language proficiency is recommended and considerations for bilingual teacher training are discussed.