New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT)

1. New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) Presented by: Vanessa Lee Mercado Assistant in Educational Testing Office of State Assessment New York State Education Department Teachers’ Institute November 17, 2006

2. Update on the Administration of the 2006 NYSESLAT & 2006 Activities • Testing Dates: • Speaking 4/24-5/26/2006 • Listening, Reading, & Writing 5/8-5/26/2006 • Number of Students Tested & Scored: • 197,457 Public & Charter School • 13,596 Non public • Teacher Participation • Item Review • Rubrics Focus Group • Field Test Materials Review • Range Finding • Fall Field Test—10/10-10/20/2006

3. Update on the Administration of the 2007 NYSESLAT—Important Dates

4. New Features for 2007 • New item types • Picture Description Speaking items, K-12 • Reading Comprehension of poetry, 2-12 • Topic-based Writing, 2-12 • New rubrics • Revised Speaking and Writing rubrics for all grade spans

5. New Item Types • Formats of new Speaking item type: • What is happening in the picture, and what will happen next? • What are the people doing, and what might they be talking about? (. . . how might she be feeling? etc.) • What is the person doing and why? • Purpose of new Speaking item type: Elicit speech containing description, prediction, inferences

6. Sample of New Speaking Item Type What are the people doing, and what might the man be saying to the boy?

7. New Item Types • Format of new Writing sets: • No change in format: 3 Pre-Writing questions lead to Writing prompt • Questions and prompt focus on topics from NYS content-area curricula • Purpose of new Writing sets: Elicit well-developed, logically organized essays

8. Pre-Writing Students learn about both Science and the arts (literature, music, art, etc.) in school. These subjects contribute to an education in important ways. Look carefully at the pictures. Answer the questions. This will help you write an essay later.

9. Pre-Writing Questions • 1. What are several reasons why it is important to study science? • 2. What are several reasons why it is important to study the arts? • 3. How might adults benefit from knowledge of science and the arts?

10. Writing Prompt Write an essay that explains how a person might benefit from having studied science and the arts in school. Make sure your essay is well-organized and of sufficient length. Use your ideas from the Pre-Writing questions to help you write.

11. New Rubrics • K-1 Writing rubrics • More explicit scoring criteria • Easier-to-use bullet-point format • 2-12 Writing rubrics • No change in content • Easier-to-use bullet-point format • K-12 Speaking rubrics • One version for each item type (Storytelling still has full and abbreviated) • Easier-to-use bullet-point format

12. Writing Rubrics K-1 - Example

13. Writing Rubrics 2-12 - Example *Accuracy of spelling does not affect score in this section.

14. Speaking Rubric K-12 - Example

15. NYSESLAT WEBSITE For more information and updates regarding the NYSESLAT please go to: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/nyseslat/