LING 612 Standardized Assessment of the Content Knowledge of English Language Learners K-12: current trends and old dilemmas

Standardized assessment of the content knowledge of English language learners K-12: current trends and old dilemmas by Butler, F.A., & Stevens, R.(2001).
Overview and problem:
Students placed in English as a second language, Limited English Proficient (LEP) in the USA is approximately at 80% based on the teacher-designed and national assessment programs such as the National Assessment of Education Progress.
Reading challenges vs. content knowledge
Approaches to standardized assessment of content knowledge:
Excluding the LEP students from national assessments was the solution in the past. However, this made that population have no representation.
Approaches to include students in testing programs:
Testing in the first language
• Test content translated into first language.
• Translating test into first language.
Accommodations
• See table 1 on pg. 413.
• Modifications of the test
• Modifications of the test procedure
Measuring growth in English
• Some states providing a separate measure of growth in English.
• Some states use growth in English as alternative accountability measures.
• Taking the language test will help LEP students to take the standardized tests.
Discussion
• Developing testing in the first language addresses many languages.
• Difficult to translate tests to first languages.
• Measuring and reporting growth in English and content areas is difficult.
Rethinking research
• Pg. 417 1. When is it appropriate to give standardized content assessments to ELLs? This is, when are the inferences made about the performance of ELLs on standardized content assessments valid?
• Pg. 417 2. Until it is appropriate to give these assessments to ELLs, how do we provide accountability and assure equity?
Areas of discussion for us to discuss:
• Academic language assessment pg. 418

• Opportunities to learn pg. 420

• Focused research on promising approaches to inclusion pg. 421

Conclusion:
• Experts from applied linguistics, language testers, psychometricians, classroom teachers, district, state, and federal officials and other fields of education get together to collaborate. Language testers contribute sound test development principles and evaluate language tests. Translate systematically operational academic language into academic language and guidelines for teachers.