XinXing Students Claim Top Chinese Proficiency Scores

Students at Hopkins’ scored the highest in the state on a Chinese language proficiency test, according to a school district news release.

On May 20, the Minnesota Confucius Institute gave students at the local Chinese immersion school the Youth Chinese Test, an international standardized proficiency test used in more than 100 countries. Five Chinese immersion schools in Minnesota took the test this year, along with many other traditional schools.

Every second grader scored at least 170 points on the test—50 points more than the 120 needed to pass. Third graders averaged 90 points higher than the 180 points they needed to pass.

Hanban—or the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language—developed the Youth Chinese Test to encourage foreign students to learn Chinese and improve their proficiency.

Second graders took the YCT III, a two-part test with listening and reading sections. Students who pass the YCT III test can conduct basic and direct communication—but only on topics they are familiar with, according to the test publisher.

Third graders took the YCT IV test, which has listening, reading and writing sections. Students who pass that test have enough proficiency to be able to travel to China and handle most of the communications tasks they encounter.

Chinese expert Zhining Chin, an assessment and evaluation coordinator for Hopkins Public Schools, expects next year’s fourth-grade class to take the HSK test designed for adults.