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Creating Assessments with English Language Learners in Mind

Creating Assessments with English Language Learners in Mind. In this module we will examine: Who are English Language Learners (ELL) and how are they identified? What are the needs of English Language Learners?

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Creating Assessments with English Language Learners in Mind

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  1. Creating Assessments with English Language Learners in Mind • In this module we will examine: • Who are English Language Learners (ELL) and how • are they identified? • What are the needs of English Language Learners? • How can we most effectively and responsibly address the unique needs they bring to assessment? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT

  2. Who are English Language Learners? • English Language Learners are students. . . • who know little or no English • Who are beginning to know English • Who are fairly proficient in English • Who are language minority students who use a language other than English at home Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 2

  3. ELL Students Need. . . • Instructional support in contexts both • Academic • Social Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 3

  4. How are ELL Students Identified? • Through intake interviews at school • Throughresults of standardized testssuch as the LAS • Through state tests such as the Kansas English Language Proficiency Assessment (KELPA) • By teacher observation in an instructional setting Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 4-5

  5. Activity One 1 How do I evaluate an ELL student’s English Language Proficiency in listening, speaking, writing and reading? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 6

  6. Issues Surrounding Identification and Inclusion • States are not consistent with deciding which ELL students should be included in large-scale assessments or instructional programs • The tests that are used to identify or group ELL students may not have included any ELL students in the original norming sample and thus may be completely inappropriate when used to describe ELL groups Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 7

  7. Issues Surrounding Identification and Inclusion • Even if ELL students were included in the test norming, if ELL performance is low, we may not know whether the cause is due to limited language skills, low content knowledge, or a combination of both • Wide range of students included within the ELL category Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 8

  8. Schools Serving ELL Students Face Challenges • 1. Inconsistency in ELL classificationacross and within states Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 9

  9. Schools Serving ELL Students Face Challenges • 2. Sparse ELL population Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 10

  10. Schools Serving ELL Students Face Challenges • 3. Lack of ELL subgroup stability Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 11

  11. Schools Serving ELL Students Face Challenges • 4. instruments for ELL students Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 12

  12. Schools Serving ELL Students Face Challenges • 5. Disparity between ELL baseline scores and AYP targets • 6. Disparity between ELL cutoff points for Reading and Math Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 13

  13. Teachers of ELL Students Need. . . “Because of the way this distinctive group of students is tested and taught has an impact on a school in its entirety, all teachers need to know about ELL students and how to assessment them appropriately.” – W. James Popham Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 14

  14. Language Becomes a Matter of Access • Linguistic complexity of test items not related to the content of the assessment may increase the measurement error and reduce the reliability of the test for ELL students • Language becomes a barrier to accessing content • For the ELL student, tests measure both achievement and language ability Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 15

  15. “Reduce” Language Complexity The principle of “universal test design” states that all tests should prefer the use of simple and more direct linguistic structures to more complex ways of expressing test items and answer choices Let’s look at an example… Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 16a

  16. An example Complex and Less Direct Linguistic Structure Which of the following mathematical expressions is not the equivalent of “x = 6/15”? • X = 40% • X = .4 • X = 3/5 d. X = 12/30 Simple and More Direct Linguistic Structure. Which one has the same value as “x = 6/15”? a. x = 2/3 b. x = 6 *15 c. x = .04 d. x = 40% Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 16b

  17. Simple vs. Complex Language • CRESST research demonstrates that reducing the complexity of language on tests improves the performance of ELL students by as much as 10% to 20% without reducing the rigor of the test Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 17

  18. Cultural Differences within ELL Populations • “For both the ELL students and the general student group, students with a Chinese-speaking background had significantly higher performance on science and reading tests than students with a Spanish-speaking background.” --Abedi, J. and Doetal, R. (2004). Challenges in the No Child Left Behind Act for English-Language Learners. Phi Delta Kappan June 2004, pp. 782-785. Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 18

  19. Other Variables that Affect the Test Performance of ELL Students • Parents’ education • Socio-economic status • Length of time in • the United States • Overall grades • Student mobility Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 20

  20. Ways to Improve Academic Performance of ELL Students • 1. Focus on Reading – CRESST research confirms that ELL students who are better readers, as measured on separate reading tests, perform at higher levels on NCLB testing Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 23

  21. Ways to Improve Academic Performance of ELL Students 2. Closely Track the Performance of ELL Studentsby using multiple measures – to identify patterns of improvement or lack of improvement, – to assess the student’s grasp of academic, not just conversational, English • – to identify successful teaching practices, and • – to determine appropriate accommodations Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 24

  22. Activity Two 2 How do I establish performance goals for ELL Learners? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 25

  23. Ways to Improve Academic Performance of ELL Students--2 • Following the principles of universal test design, reduce the language load on tests Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 26

  24. Ways to Improve Academic Performance of ELL Students--2 • 4. Provide accommodations, and evaluate their validityand effectiveness Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 27

  25. Activity Three 3 What accommodations am I able to provide my students on state assessments Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 28-31

  26. Choosing Accommodations • Existing Data: What data already exist to help teachers decide the extent to which an accommodation, such as read-aloud, should be provided? • Validity: Does provision of accommodation alter the construct of the assessment? • Effectiveness: What accommodation strategies would be the most effective in reducing performance gaps between ELL students and non-ELL students that are due to language factors? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 32

  27. Choosing Accommodations • Differential impact: Which student background characteristics impact accommodated assessment? • Feasibility: Which accommodation(s) are more feasible, particularly in large-scale assessments? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 33-34

  28. Activity Four 4 While reading aloud items to students, how do I read the item so as not to clue the student to the correct answer? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 36

  29. Know How to Administer the Accommodation • Administer the accommodation during instruction on a regular basis Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 37

  30. Know How to Administer the Accommodation • Concepts should be tested in the same way they were taught Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 38

  31. Know How to Administer the Accommodation • Use “translating dictionaries” where permitted Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 39

  32. Know How to Administer the Accommodation • Content area teachers should focus primarily on the ESL student’s meaning and content, not on his or her language or grammar Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 40

  33. Content and Language • When necessary to focus on grammar and language be careful not to overload the student by including content with the instruction in language. Separate the two. • Focus on language in some activities and content in other activities. (Be sure that students know, in advance, what is being graded.) Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 41-42

  34. Grading–Criteria • Establish grading criteria for when the focus is on language (e.g., punctuation, capitalization, appropriate title and organization, etc.) Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 43

  35. Do not Overload the Student • Choose the priorities, according to the student’s language proficiency level, when grading for language; the LEP student cannot focus on everything at once Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 44

  36. Do Not Overload the Student-2 • Not advisable to give two separate grades – one for content and one for correctness of language – because that is asking the student to focus on too many things at once Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 45

  37. Separate Process from Product On Different Assignments • Grade process in some activities (e.g., brainstorming, organizing, editing, etc.) • Grade product in other activities (e.g., the final product, in accordance with criteria established ahead of time) Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 46

  38. Other Sources of Strategies for ELL Students • “Center for Applied Linguistics” • State Departments of Education • “National Assessment for Educational Progress” • National Center for Research in Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) • ERIC Digests • “ESL/ELL Students in the Classroom” www.nssd112.org/elmplace/documents/Eslstrat.doc November 30, 2010. Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 47

  39. Activity Five 5 What Instructional Strategies should I use will ELL students? Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT 48

  40. Conclusion Remember the value of alternate ways to access student learning Kansas State Department of Education ASSESSMENT LITERACY PROJECT

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