Abstract
In heritage language (HL) education, testing for administrative motives (i.e., student placement) has received special attention (Fairclough 2012b), and with good
reason. Given the heterogeneity that characterizes HL learners, it is important to be
able to place them adequately. However, it is also important to be able to determine
whether learning goals are being met. According to Carreira (2012a), it is essential
that educators utilize formative assessment in HL classes, which would allow them
to address issues of learner diversity. Most of the literature dealing with HL assessment, however, is based on university-level education. We know little about how
community-based HL schools in the United States assess learner progress and determine student readiness, and even less, if anything, about the assessment of linguistic and cultural skills in less commonly taught HLs, such as Portuguese. This
chapter aims to shed some light on issues of placement and of assessment of learning in community-based HL schools by presenting data from a survey distributed
to Brazilian Portuguese language teachers and school administrators in the U.S.
Results indicate that there is an array of behaviors in relation both to administrative and to instructional assessment in these schools, which range from grouping
only by age to using tests to place learners and assess their progress. Based on the
available literature and on the data analyzed, the chapter also presents suggestions
regarding assessment in Brazilian Portuguese community-based HL programs and
possibly others.