MDE-LIO is committed to providing relevant and effective support for students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH), including providing resources that support the assessment of students’ American Sign Language (ASL) skills.
ASL Assessment Resources
MDE-LIO does not endorse the purchase or use of any non-State Board of Education-adopted commercial products. Products and services noted below are included for information only and their inclusion should not be interpreted as a recommendation of MDE-LIO.
Visual Communication and Sign Language (VCSL) Checklist
The VCSL Checklist is a standardized comprehensive checklist used to assist in tracking young children’s sign language development from birth to five.
The Kendall Conversational Proficiency levels (P-Levels)
The P-Level assessment can be found in the toolkit Starting with Assessment: A Developmental Approach to Deaf Children's Literacy. The toolkit is available through the MDE-LIO DHH Resource Library.
The American Sign Language Assessment (ASLA)
This assessment is designed to track the yearly progression of ASL and English print literacy over time for students in Pre-K through grade 12, ages 4–21. The ASLA consists of 11 receptive tasks: five related to vocabulary, three pertaining to syntax, and two reasoning and comprehension tasks. For more information, contact the ASL Education Center.
ASL Assessment Toolkits
Gallaudet University's Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) provides several ASL assessment tools on its website.
American Sign Language Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (ASL CIA)
This resource provides teaching materials for three focused areas: curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The site fosters an environment of sharing and providing educational ASL resources for students who are DHH from early childhood through 12th grade. There is a small yearly fee to subscribe.
Language Assessments for American Sign Language
Language First offers a chart of assessments related to ASL, including the assessment name, area, age range, location, and notes.