scholarly journals Assessments and Accommodations for English Language Learners: A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Jo Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Content Area Teachers ◽  
Classroom Assessments

While research in how English language learners (ELLs) use assessment accommodations is lacking, there are some general conclusions that one can draw. First, teachers must know their students’ abilities. This includes knowledge of their English proficiency, knowledge of their first language skills, especially as it pertains to literacy skills, and knowledge of their content area understanding. If teachers are aware of areas of weakness in students’ assessments, they should work to compensate for them by either changing their instruction or providing assessment accommodations. Second, it is important for teachers to recognize the various types of assessment accommodations that are available in their teaching situation. More vitally, teachers must be able to assign assessment accommodations appropriately to their students and know differences between ELL accommodations and Special Education accommodations. If accommodations are applied without regard to individual student differences, it can cause more harm to the assessment procedures and evaluations than benefits. Finally, there is a difference between high-stakes standardized tests and classroom assessments. While content-area teachers may have more freedom in modifying their classroom assessments, standardized tests are usually more constrained in their testing format and accommodations they are allowed to offer. Identifying gaps in research related to assessments for ELLs will benefit the field as content-area teachers continue to increase their work with students of diverse backgrounds.

Standards-based classroom assessments of English proficiency: A review of issues, current developments, and future directions for research

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena Llosa
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Assessment ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Classroom Assessments ◽  
Key Issues

With the United States’ adoption of a standards-based approach to education, most attention has focused on the large-scale, high-stakes assessments intended to measure students’ mastery of standards for accountability purposes. Less attention has been paid to the role of standards-based assessments in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to discuss key issues and challenges related to the use of standards-based classroom assessments to assess English language learners’ English proficiency. First, the paper describes a study of a standards-based classroom assessment of English proficiency in a large urban school district in California. Second, using this study as an example and drawing from the literature in language testing on classroom assessment, this paper highlights the major issues and challenges involved in using English proficiency standards as the basis for classroom assessment. Finally, the article outlines a research agenda for the field given current developments in the areas of English proficiency standards and classroom assessment.

The Language Policy of Placement Tests for Newcomer English Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 936-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendall King ◽  
Martha Bigelow
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
High Stakes

U.S. public schools are required to establish policies ensuring that English language learners have equal access to “meaningful education.” This demands that districts put into place mechanisms to determine student eligibility for specialized English language services. For the most states, this federal requirement is fulfilled through the local administration of the WIDA–Access Placement Test (W-APT), arguably the most widely used, yet under-studied, English language assessment in the country. Through intensive participant observation at one, urban new student intake center, and detailed qualitative, discursive analysis of test administration and interaction, we demonstrate how the W-APT works as a high-stakes assessment, screener, and sorter, and how test takers and test administrators locally negotiate this test and enact this federal and state policy. Our analysis indicates that the W-APT is problematic in several respects, most importantly because the test does not differentiate adequately across students with widely different literacy skills and formal schooling experiences.

scholarly journals Helping Preservice Content-Area Teachers Relate to English Language Learners: An Investigation of Attitudes and Beliefs

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Pappamihiel
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Content Area Teachers ◽  
Safe Learning Environment

In the United States and Canada, as in many other countries, it has become common for teachers not specifically trained in English as a second language (ESL) to have immigrant and minority language students in their classrooms. These students, who are generally learning English along with the culture of their new countries, present many challenges for their teachers, who are often not appropriately trained to meet their needs. Often teachers of mathematics, science, and other content-area courses feel less than prepared for these students and lack the skills needed to accommodate instruction to their unique needs. In addition, these same teachers often harbor attitudes and beliefs about immigrant students that are not conducive to the development of a safe learning environment and are difficult to alter. This article describes how a community-based service-learning project (CBSL) was used to begin to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of preservice content-area teachers toward English language learners (ELLs). In this study many participants exhibited some level of change in their attitudes about working with ELLs.

On My Mind: University Faculty—Making Classroom Connections

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 488-489
Author(s):  
Denisse R. Thompson ◽  
Gladis Kersaint
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
Full Time ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Graduate Teacher Education

University teacher educators typically wear many hats. Their many roles may include providing professional development (i.e., workshops) for practicing teachers on various topics (e.g., use of technology, teaching English Language Learners); teaching mathematics or methods courses to teachers or teacher candidates enrolled in undergraduate or graduate teacher education programs; and working with various groups or entities related to policy issues in mathematics education (e.g., teacher licensure, high-stakes assessment). Although mathematics teacher educators contribute to the field in various ways, a perception exists that university faculty are in an “ivory tower,” having few or ancient connections to schools. In some cases, their credibility may be questioned because of the time that has elapsed since they were in a classroom full time.

scholarly journals Peddling Pedagogies: The Winners and Losers of a Standardized Testing Economy

2014 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 153-155
Author(s):  
Lucy Arnold Steele
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Urban Students ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Teacher Roles ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
The Impact

This review compares the ethnographic research of Jessica Zacher Pandya’s Overtested: How High-Stakes Accountability Fails English Language Learners with the programmatic prescriptions of Yvette Jackson’s Pedagogy of Confidence. Both texts are concerned with the impact of standardized testing on urban students, but the focus of each book is quite different in terms of public policy on education and the way teacher roles are construed.

scholarly journals The impact of language and high-stakes testing policies on elementary school English language learners in Arizona.

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne E. Wright ◽  
Daniel Choi
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Ell Students ◽  
Sheltered English Immersion ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sheltered English

This article reports the results of a survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies—Proposition 203, which restricts bilingual education and mandates sheltered English Immersion; the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB); and Arizona LEARNS, the state’s high-stakes testing and accountability program. The instrument, consisting of 126 survey questions plus open-ended interview question, was designed to obtain teacher’s views, to ascertain the impact of these polices, and to explore their effectiveness in improving the education of ELL students. The survey was administered via telephone to 40 teacher participants from different urban, rural and reservation schools across the state. Each participant represents the elementary school in their respective school district which has the largest population of ELL students. Analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data reveal that these policies have mostly resulted in confusion in schools throughout the state over what is and is not allowed, and what constitutes quality instruction for ELLs, that there is little evidence that such policies have led to improvements in the education of ELL students, and that these policies may be causing more harm than good. Specifically, teachers report they have been given little to no guidance over what constitutes sheltered English immersion, and provide evidence that most ELL students in their schools are receiving mainstream sink-or-swim instruction. In terms of accountability, while the overwhelming majority of teachers support the general principle, they believe that high-stakes tests are inappropriate for ELLs and participants provided evidence that the focus on testing is leading to instruction practices for ELLs which fail to meet their unique linguistic and academic needs. The article concludes with suggestions for needed changes to improve the quality of education for ELLs in Arizona.

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