ELL Assessment and Accommodations

1. ELL Assessment and Accommodations September 13, 2013

2. What’s New

3. What’s New at TEA? • Assessments for students served by special education and assessments for ELLs are now the responsibility of the Assessments for Special Populations Unit in the Student Assessment Division.

4. STAAR L Practice Sets • Practice sets consist of approximately 25 items for each STAAR L assessment • To be posted in early 2014 • Will be available in online format similar to TELPAS so that students may experience the items as they will be presented in the operational administration.

5. STAAR L and SSI • Beginning 2013–2014, 5th and 8th grade students assessed with STAAR L in mathematics will be held to same SSI requirements for both mathematics and reading, including retesting, as students taking the general STAAR assessments

6. Data Collection Changes • Beginning in the 2013–2014 school year, students must be enrolled for 60 consecutive school days for that year to count in years in U.S. schools calculations. Please note that this is not to be calculated retroactively. • Unschooled Asylee Refugee • Continue as it has in the past • Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) • SIFE and Limited Prior Schooling groups from 2012–2013 have been collapsed • This data will be collected through the student data upload • Specific information will be included in the 2014 DCCM

7. Spanish STAAR Highlights

8. STAAR Spanish • Availablefor students in grades 3–5 • Grades 3–5 reading and math • Grade 4 writing • Grade 5 science • Same grades and subjects are tested as English

9. Who Takes STAAR Spanish? • Students for whom Spanish version of STAAR test is the most appropriate measure of academic progress • LPAC determines if STAAR Spanish is an appropriate assessment for ELLs and non-ELLs

10. How is STAAR Spanish Developed? • Follow the same guidelines as English item development • Reading and Writing • The items and/or passages are developed separately to account for cultural and linguistics differences. • Mathematics and Science • Items from English development are translated or transadapted into Spanish.

11. Transadaptation Process for STAAR Spanish Math and Science • Test items for STAAR Spanish are selected from the English development • Goal is to build tests for regular STAAR and STAAR Spanish using the same items if appropriate • Item writing and review process for transadapted items ensure that items in Spanish are linguistically and culturally appropriate and that they meet grade-level expectations • Every year bilingual educators review selected items for STAAR Spanish tests

12. Spanish/English Alignment on STAAR Tests • STAAR Spanish and regular STAAR both – • follow the same item development guidelines • use the same blueprints • adhere to same guidelines to build tests in terms of range of content tested and cognitive complexity • expect same student performance

13. Key Elements for Success in STAAR • Understand the level of performance the TEKS require • Teach students the academic vocabulary • Teach both readiness and supporting content and skills • Emphasize critical/inferential thinking, problem solving, and application rather than isolated or memorized content and skills • Reinforce connections between different content areas (e.g., math and science, math and reading)

14. Examples of Transadapted Items

15. Grade 3 Math

16. Grade 3 Math – Spanish

17. Grade 5 Science

18. Grade 5 Science – Spanish

19. Grade 5 Math

20. Grade 5 Math – Spanish

21. STAAR L

22. 2013 STAAR L Administrations • Online interface provided certain linguistic accommodations for qualifying students: • Clarification in English at the word or phrase level for pre-determined words • Words read aloud at the word-by-word level • 35,000 students across the state were administered STAAR L across all administration in 2013

23. STAAR L Online Student Tutorial • Available early spring 2014 • Minor updates to grades 3–8; Updates to EOC version to address assessment changes from HB 5 • Should be used to familiarize students with clarification and read aloud accommodations and standard TestNav tools • Test administration directions for operational STAAR L assessments will assume some familiarity with online interface

24. ELLs with Parental Denials TAC §101.1005 (f) • Reminder: These students are not eligible for special ELL assessment, accommodation, or accountability provisions • No testing in Spanish • No linguistic accommodations during testing • No English I EOC special provisions • No unschooled asylee/refugee provisions • ELLs with parental denials may, however, use bilingual, ESL, or other allowable dictionaries as part of dictionary policy for STAAR reading and writing tests in grade 6 and up; under this policy, use of dictionaries not considered linguistic accommodation

25. Global Definition of Advanced High Advanced High students have attained the command of English that enables them, with minimal second language acquisition support, to engage in regular, all-English academic instruction at their grade level. Key features – Ability to engage in grade-appropriate academic instruction with minimal second language acquisition support 25 25 25

26. Global Definition of Advanced Advanced students are able to engage in grade-appropriate academic instruction in English, although ongoing second language acquisition support is needed to help them understand and use grade-appropriate language. These students function beyond the level of simple, routinely used English. Key features – Ability to engage in grade-appropriate academic instruction with second language acquisition support 26 26 26

27. Global Definition of Intermediate Intermediate students do have some ability to understand and use English. They can function in social and academic settings as long as the tasks require them to understand and use simple language structures and high-frequency vocabulary in routine contexts. Key features – Limited ability, simple language structures, high-frequency vocabulary, routine contexts 27 27 27

28. Global Definition of Beginning Beginning students have little or no ability to understand and use English. They may know a little English but not enough to function meaningfully in social or academic settings. Key features – Little or no English ability 28 28 28

29. Participation in General STAAR Assessment • Taken by ELLs and other students not administered STAAR Spanish, STAAR L, STAAR Modified, or STAAR Alternate • Remember: • STAAR L is for mathematics, science, and social studies, not reading and writing • STAAR Spanish is for grades 3–5 only • Linguistic accommodations beyond testing in native language not permitted for STAAR Spanish • ELLs taking general STAAR assessments permitted some linguistic accommodations

30. Eligibility for STAAR Spanish and STAAR L 10

31. Alignment of STAAR, STAAR Spanish, and STAAR L Same: • Assessed curriculum and item types • STAAR blueprints for building tests • Achievement standard alignment • Focus on readiness for next grade level or course with goal of postsecondary readiness Differences have to do with language accessibility: • STAAR Spanish uses native language to help students understand test • STAAR L provides English-language accommodations to help students understand test

32. Linguistic Accommodations

33. About Linguistic Accommodations • Linguistic accommodations are language supports that decrease the language barrier ELLs experience when learning and demonstrating knowledge and skills in English • Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) require that all teachers linguistically accommodate the instruction of ELLs according to students’ English language proficiency levels • STAAR linguistic accommodation policies support these ELPS requirements

34. Linguistic Accommodations in Instruction • Support learning of both subject matter and English • Are expected to change and be needed less often as students learn more English • Are monitored and adjusted by teachers as students learn more English

35. Linguistic Accommodations During State Assessment • Not all accommodations suitable for instruction are allowable during state assessments • Accommodations in instruction are designed to foster and support learning • STAAR measures degree to which students have met curriculum and performance standards • Accommodations during assessment must not alter what is fundamentally assessed • Issues of test standardization and test administration logistics must be considered during state assessments

36. Affective Needs of ELLs Recently Arrived ELLs • Meeting affective needs of ELLs who are new to the U.S. is important in instruction and testing • Sending encouraging, calm vibrations goes a long way • Help new ELLs look at first year of test results as good information to use in setting and meeting goals for following year All ELLs • Encourage practices that involve all ELLs in setting and reaching goals for English acquisition and academic achievement

37. Linguistic Accommodations for Students Taking STAAR and STAAR L

38. Linguistic Accommodations STAAR *Dictionary access to be provided for all students in grade 6 and up as part of STAAR dictionary policy

39. Linguistic Accommodations STAAR L

40. STAAR and STAAR L Linguistic Accommodations― Dictionaries

41. Dictionaries as a Linguistic Accommodation • Four categories: • Bilingual dictionary • English/ESL dictionary • Non-English monolingual dictionary • Picture dictionary

42. Bilingual Dictionary Allowable for STAAR and STAAR L (any subject) • Considered a linguistic accommodation for • math, science, social studies (all grades) • grades 3–5 reading and grade 4 writing • Reminder: Allowed for grade 6 and up reading and writing as part of STAAR dictionary policy (and not considered a linguistic accommodation) • Used to translate words (and sometimes common phrases) from one language to another • Bilingual dictionaries that includepictures are fine as long as they do not illustrate content terminology or concepts

43. 43 Bilingual Dictionary Examples of translated words — English to Spanish (useful when reading in English) evenly uniformemente; imparcialmente, equitativamente live broadcast emisión en directo photosynthesis fotosíntesis Examples of translated words — Spanish to English (useful when writing in English) cita appointment, meeting; date; quotation decepcionar disappoint débil weak

44. 44 Bilingual Dictionary Example entry — English to Spanish age [eIdƷ] noun (general) edad; old age vejez; (period) época; (fam: long time) we waited for ages esperamos una eternidad; verb envejecer The Spanish translation for the word “age,” which seems like a simple word in English, has multiple meanings and is a different word in each case.

45. English/ESL Dictionary • Allowable for STAAR reading and writing only; not other STAAR subjects; not STAAR L • Considered a linguistic accommodation below grade 6 • Reminder: Allowed for grade 6 and up reading and writing as part of STAAR dictionary policy (and not considered a linguistic accommodation) • Unlike bilingual dictionaries, English dictionaries contain definitions of English words • ESL dictionaries define words using simpler English • Some dictionaries (e.g., children’s dictionaries, ESL dictionaries) include some pictures

46. Non-English Monolingual Dictionary • Allowable for STAAR reading and writing only • Considered a linguistic accommodation in grade 3 and up • Single-language standard (definition) dictionary in a language other than English (e.g., dictionary of Spanish language; dictionary of Vietnamese language) • Would likely need to be used in combination with other dictionaries; this requires skill and experience TEA Student Assessment Division

47. Picture Dictionary • Allowable for STAAR reading and writing only • Linguistic accommodation in grade 3 and up • Conveys word meaning through drawings or photos; includes only words that can be pictured • May be monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual (may show picture plus word in one language or more than one language) • Contains small body of words; has limited usefulness as stand-alone linguistic accommodation

48. Allowable and Nonallowable Formats Within four categories of allowable dictionaries, keep in mind the following guidelines: • Paper and electronic dictionary formats (including hand-held electronic devices) are permitted • Electronic devices: • must not be Internet-based (it is not sufficient to disable Internet) • any features that allow entering and saving text or uploading files must be cleared before and after test administration • if device has additional capabilities (e.g. calculator) that cannot be disabled, the test administrator must actively monitor to ensure that these features are not accessed

49. Allowable and Nonallowable Formats • Subject-specific/topic-specific dictionaries (e.g., science dictionaries, academic language dictionaries, etc.) are not permitted • Bilingual dictionaries must be word/phrase translation dictionaries only; must not define words or illustrate or explain content terminology or concepts • Bilingual, ESL, and standard monolingual dictionaries that contain occasional pictures are acceptable as long as the pictures do not illustrate content terminology or concepts

50. Allowable and Nonallowable Formats • Electronic devices that translate beyond the level of words and set phrases are not considered bilingual dictionaries and are not permitted • Only dictionaries by reputable dictionary publishing companies should be used (no dictionaries produced by school districts, service centers, etc.) • A state list of approved dictionaries will not be issued