The National Italian Exam is an official AATI national language contest held among middle and high school students. The NIE is not only as an assessment tool, which provides teachers and students with diagnostic feedback and positive backwash to help inform high school instruction and curricula, it is also as an opportunity for visibility and for promoting Italian programs in North American schools.

The AATI is committed to offering an innovative exam that is aligned with the ACTFL Performance Descriptors and the 2012 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, for this reason AATI encourages instructors of Italian to invite their students to participate in the National Italian Exam, which could help them prepare for the official exams of Seal of Biliteracy, the SAT II and finally, will make them eligible for the Società Onoraria Italica scholarships..