LING 612 Assessment (2006) by Pierce

Assessment using the NCLB 2001 law is a struggle not only for second language users, but for our school as well with our student population being mostly English Language Proficient qualified for extra help in the students home language. Having such high stakes set with the act makes students that are low aware of their weaknesses and try to catch the students before they fall through the cracks and drop out. Nothing wrong with that concept, but it is not how the test is interpreted. Schools with failing AYP marks are labeled as so. With labeling, no good can come out of that situation. Labels hurt people.
Lets educate our teachers, provide them with the curriculum and support they need to educate our young. The act obviously did not succeed and therefore we need to learn from the mistakes of the act and make the necessary improvements to get kids back on track. There are so many assessment tools that can be used to capture an image of the knowledge that students have in their funds of knowledge. Relying on one test to make or brake a catagory of student is not doing no one justice to see what each child has the potential to do. Also it is not fair to the English as a second language population when they are brushed aside or made to feel like they are not a part of the school because their scores are not included in the formula. I would not want my student to be in a such an environment.
NCLB act is a strong indication that we need to find better means to assess our students and build up on their strengths while working on their weaknesses. Make children feel proud, lead them in the right direction and have a better tomorrow.