The State Board of Education (SBE) and the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), discussed the practical implications of competency-based credit. WSAC revised its "Minimum College Admission Standards,"also known as, "College Academic Distribution Requirements"(CADRs), in 2014 to state: "Two credits must be earned in the same language? Schools may award credit based on a district-approved competency assessment consistent with the SBE sample policy and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines."For more details, please read the World Language CADRs.
Highly competitive four-year colleges and universities like to see three to four years of high school world language study, including World Language Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses. Competency-based credits will appear as a grade of "P"(pass) on the high school transcript and not factored into the student's overall Grade Point Average. Students who qualify for credit for their language proficiency would be seeking to do so early (e.g., end of 8th grade/9th grade) giving them time for additional study of the same or a different language in high school. In addition, we may expect that colleges will begin to shift their focus from seat-time credits to demonstrated proficiency. Students with evidence of language proficiency (through the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction-approved assessment results) may find that to be an advantage.