Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D. Illinois Resource Center and

1. Building an Assessment System Inclusive of English Learners 2011 WABE Annual Conference Kennewick, WA May 6, 2011 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D. Illinois Resource Center and World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium

2. Testing your knowledge of assessment literacy Examining instructional assessment systems descriptive of language learners Exploring the components of a balanced instructional assessment system Defining the steps in designing standards-driven instructional assessment for English learners Today’s adventure into assessment….

3. Check out the ABC Assessment Chart in your handout. Try to identify an assessment word or expression for each letter of the alphabet. Star those words that directly apply to building an instructional assessment system. What is your assessment literacy?

4. Time to get SMART and SAVVY with instructional assessment data ! Student-focused Sustainable Multiple sources Accountable Aligned with standards Varied Reliable Valid Teacher-usable Yielding valued information Gottlieb & Nguyen (2007)

5. Assessment Principles should undergird assessment systems…. 1. Teaching and learning are influenced by the interaction among learning goals, learning standards, and learning benchmarks, and their alignment with assessment measures. 2. Decision-making is based on multiple measures that include information from formative and summative assessment across levels of implementation to yield a rich array of quantitative, qualitative, and combined types of evidence.

6. 3. Assessment at the state and district levels complements strongly supported assessment at the program and classroom levels. 4. Students’ language proficiency, as demonstrated by their growth in language development, is distinct from their academic achievement, their attainment of conceptual skills and knowledge. The assessment of these constructs is unique, with each measure specifically crafted to fulfill a distinct purpose. Gottlieb & Nguyen (2007) ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES

7. Let’s imagine You are the designer of an instructional assessment system for your district…..

8. What is an instructional assessment system? It’s a deliberate, agreed-upon convergence of thinking on the part of educators in how data inform teaching and learning while simultaneously contribute to local accountability.

9. Why it is important to create an instructional Assessment system for english learners? to • Provide multiple sources of evidence of student growth in language proficiency and academic achievement • Mark effectiveness of language education programs • Encourage teacher (and student) voice • Diagnose challenging areas and create a plan for improvement

10. Instructional Assessment Systems are: • Internal to the functioning of schools and school districts while responsive to the external accountability mandates • Built on consensus from teachers, school leaders, and administrators • Rigorous, comprehensive, and standards-based • Systemic, reflective of shared educational goals, vision, and commitment

11. DEFINING INSTRUCTIONAL ASSESSMENT… Turn to a partner. One person thinks of 3 attributes of instruction while one person thinks of 3 attributes of assessment. Then share the features with each other. Instruction Assessment

12. Hands-on, performance-based • Engaging, motivating, rigorous, yet sensitive to the students’ educational experiences • Differentiated according to students’ levels of English language proficiency • Infused with instructional supports to scaffold learning Some shared Attributes of instruction & assessment

13. Instructional Assessment Instruction Assessment

14. Which shape or configuration do you think best describes an instructional assessment system built for English learners? Pick one. models of INSTRUCTIONAL assessment systems 1 2 4 5 3

15. Instructional Assessment systems are needed for English learners to: • Document their development of English over time • Track performance in their other language, if feasible and applicable • Ensure data from multiple measures are used for decision-making • Understand the relationship between the students’ language development and academic achievement

16. MODEL 1: A CONCENTRIC ASSESSMENT SYSTEM Research Curriculum and Instruction Assessment Ass English Learners Standards Professional Development 16

17. English learners form the central core that is closely guarded by standards Standards inform assessment which, in turn, drives curriculum and instruction The outermost circle, professional development, is infused throughout the system. In this model….

18. model 2: A linear Assessment System Home Language Survey Screener PreK-12 ELD Standards Academic Content Standards Curriculum, & Instruction Annual ELP Assessment Annual Achievement Test ELP Benchmark Assessment Achievement Benchmark Assessment

19. English learners are identified from a standard process consisting of a Home Language Survey and language proficiency screener Two sets of standards work together in the design and delivery of curriculum and instruction Measurement of language proficiency and academic achievement yields summative and interim data. In This model

20. Model 3: A continuum of assessments Idiosyncratic Common Interim Standardized Individualized Teacher Tools Classroom Measures Commercial Measures Criterion –referenced Tests

21. Information on English learners is considered across multiple forms of assessment that serve different purposes and have unique uses Each form of assessment contributes to decision-making Accountability is systemic rather than predominately at a state level In This data-driven model

22. Three forms of instructional assessment can provide formative information: Idiosyncratic… measures designed by individual teachers used to make student, group, or classroom level decisions Common… standard measures built by educators and used across classrooms to make grade/ department, school, program, or district decisions Interim…. benchmark measures administered periodically that, in large part, are externally developed to make program or district decisions 22

23. Different Forms of assessment are designed for different purposes and yield results that are used in different ways IdiosyncraticCommon InterimStandardized Formative information Summative information Benchmarks

24. Different Forms of assessment are designed for different purposes and yield results that are used in different ways IdiosyncraticCommon InterimStandardized Formative information Summative information Benchmarks

25. Turn and Talk…A Quick Needs Assessment • What are some measures that reflect each form of assessment for your English learners? • What is the distribution of measures of language proficiency and academic achievement across the different forms? • What are some additional measures needed for language learners?

26. Model 4: a Standards- centered model INSTRUCTION Standards CURRICULUM ASSESSMENT

27. English language development and academic content standards take center stage. The system revolves around standards-referenced curriculum, instruction, and assessment There is an interactive relationship among the components of the system. In This model

28. MODEL 5: The BASIC Model C State and district assessment Curriculum and Instruction Contextual Information Program and school assessment Learning Standards Classroom assessment Gottlieb & Nguyen (2007)

29. Curriculum and instruction are the core components that are balanced by assessment data at various levels of implementation The model is framed by learning standards and goals of the language education program The context consists of students’ demographic & historical data that provide the backdrop for understanding their current performance the Balanced Assessment and Accountability System, Inclusive and Comprehensive (BASIC) model

30. Which measures mark academic achievement and language development of English learners at each level of implementation?

31. What might your district’s assessment system need to make it more balanced? • Greater consideration for each level of implementation? • Use of additional forms of assessment and types of evidence? • Involvement of additional stakeholders, including students and family members?

32. Is crafted by educators within schools and districts Has strong ties to curriculum and is representative of instruction Consists of tasks and projects that involve higher-order thinking, invite originality in response and encourage student interaction Has a short turn around for reporting results with descriptive feedback for students Reflects what is valued for teaching and learning To Summarize, Instructional Assessment for English Learners

33. Finally, irrespective of the model you selected, the instructional assessment system must be: A valid representation of the performance of English learners Open to multiple voices and perspectives Theoretically grounded in a confluence of fields, including linguistics, education, second language acquisition, and assessment Based on research conducted on English learners Dynamic, flexible, and open, willing to evolve over time.

34. Imagineif… Tomorrow, we are told that reauthorization of ESEA no longer requires annual achievement tests, but schools must continue to show that students are making adequate yearly progress toward meeting grade-level standards.

35. Where would you begin to build a balanced instructional assessment systemresponsive to the diverse needs of your English learners?

36. Now that you have chosen a model descriptive of an instructional assessment system, what are the steps in its implementation for English learners?

37. 1. Who are your students? Preview….two major considerations

38. Demographics…the VARIABILITY AMONG ENGLISH LEARNERS Students with Interrupted Formal Education Long-term ELs English learners with considerations for special education Dual language learners ELLs with strong L1 literacy Simultaneous v. sequential young ELs 38

39. 2. What are Your Source Materials for Instructional Assessment? Which sets of standards? Which curricular topics and themes? Which textbooks and technology? Which other resources, such as multicultural communities, can you tap?

40. Here is a multi-step process for implementing an instructional assessment system inclusive of english learners …

41. Step I: Language and content teachers partner to co-design language and content targets for curricular units of instruction.

42. Complement each teacher’s strengths and expertise Communicate and articulate students’ needs Provide continuity of instruction for English language learners Share the responsibility for educating English language learners Why is co-planning important? To…

43. Protected planning time Joint professional development Clusters Early release days Virtually How might you plan together?

44. Content and language targets correspond with the major conceptual and linguistic understandings for a unit of study. A Sample Content Target Students will round large whole numbers in various place values in solving math problems. A Sample Language Target: English language learners will use the language of estimation (e.g., ‘close to, about, around, approximately’) in oral communication as applied to rounding place value. CONTENT LANGUAGE

45. A performance task should: • Exemplify both English language proficiency and academic content standards • Be rigorous, challenging, yet reasonable for English learners • Capitalize on the linguistic and cultural experiences of the students Step 2: Instructional assessment tasks for the unit are designed to engage English learners in hands-on, performance activities.

46. Step 3: LESSONS ARE DIFFERENTIATED BY LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES THAT CORRESPOND TO STUDENTS’ LEVELS OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY Beginning ELs Intermediate ELs Transitional ELs

47. In other words, how do the students’ levels of language proficiency impact how lessons are designed? Transitional Advanced Advanced Intermediate Intermediate Beginning- Advanced Beginning Beginning 47

48. DIFFERENTIATED LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES Beginning ELs: Students will say ‘round up’ or ‘round down’ in response to number phrases (e.g., ‘Going from 760 to 800, we __________’). Intermediate ELs:Students will give each other a series of commands re: use of rounding for number sentences. Advanced ELs: Students will explain, using the language of estimation, a multi-step process for rounding 48

49. For the given language target …. What activities, tasks, or projects might you design for the students’ levels of language proficiency? What kinds of rubrics do you plan to incorporate into instruction? Step 4.languageassessment is embedded in instructional activities, tasks, or projects

50. Instructional assessment = a performance activity, task or project + a rubric with set criteria + student self-assessment