Assessment of English Language Learners
Abstract
In the recent past the issue of integrity and validity of ELLs has been of great concern. Most research has been focused on the validity of the forms of language proficiency tests that are in existence. Understanding the problems concerning assessment of English language learners is of fundamental significance considering the rapid growth of English language learners in the US. This paper discusses this issue by considering the current assessment tests in schools, they work, their advantage and their drawbacks. The paper also discusses the alternative assessments practices that have emerged and what they entail.
Introduction
The introduction of new language proficiency tests such as ACCESS for ELLs has been as a result of the deficiency in the old tests. The valid and fair assessment of students under ELL has been one of the main priorities of national educational agenda. This is because assessments have an influence on the academic lives of learners in numerous ways. In class, assessment has an impact on the planning of instructions and curriculum, and specifically, ELP assessments have a crucial role in grouping and classification of ELL learners. The level of proficiency in English determines the prescription of instructional materials. (Abedi, 2007)
ACCESS for ELLs
ACCESS for ELLs is a new English language proficiency test that is used for assessing communication and comprehension in English. It is a test that addressees the development standards of English language in large-scale which constitute the Wisconsin’s approach of testing and instructing learners. Such standards integrate a collection of performance indicators that demonstrate the expectations that teachers have of English language learners using 5 grade level clusters that are organized in 5 diverse content fields.
The clusters used in the grade levels include K, level 1 to 2, level 3 to 5, level 6 to 8, and level 9 to 12. The 5 standard’s content areas are; social and instructional language which integrates the skills required in dealing with general language in class, science, mathematics, social studies and English language arts. For the each grade level, the standards identify a specific performance indicator that is used in a given content field within the 4 domains of language writing, reading, speaking, and listening. The range of language development in the 5 levels of proficiency include entering in level 1, beginning in level 2, developing in level 3, expending in level 4, and bridging in level 5.
The 5 levels demonstrate the continuum of progression of a learner from the time he/she knows little or no English up to the time the learner becomes fully proficient in English, such that no extra help is needed in class. In each of the grade levels, language domain, and content area, there exist performance indicators in the proficiency ladder. The progression of the 5 indicators illustrates the logical accumulation and advancement of skills on the way to complete proficiency.
Advantages of ACCESS
As compared to the older ELP assessment tests ACCESS has a number of advantages over them. They include;
-ACCESS is anchored on the ELP standards of each state unlike other proficiency tests which are not based on standards.
-Unlike the other off the shelf tests which are viewed as non-secure, ACCESS is considered as a high-stake and secure assessment.
-ACCESS stresses on academic English unlike other tests whose social language proficiency is not useful.
-ACCESS is also aligned with the core standards’ academic content. This means that no content allied knowledge is required in answering the test items.
-these tests are constructed in such a way that they have domains for oral language that involves speaking and listening.
-Most of the older ELP tests provide for different tests in different grade levels, they often do not account for comparability in different grades. ACCESS takes into account the issue comparability across grades for comparison. The issue of comparability is crucial in analyzing of growth in language proficiency as it portrays school accountability and student progress.
-the other advantage of ACCESS is that it formulates tests that can be administered in more than a single proficiency level in one grade. This is essential as it recognizes the range of skill levels that learners of any age can have in ELLs.
Disadvantage of ACCESS
The main criticism of ACCESS in ELLs is its failure to appraise knowledge on a given content area, unlike other assessment that will evaluate comprehension of a student in the specific content area.
Alternative assessment formats.
- Selected response.
This form of assessment is very efficient and quick because a teacher is able to assess a great deal of information. It is also easier and objective for the student as due to the fact that for each question there is a wrong and right answer, it also has the advantage that the questions can be scored impartially. Questions with selected response include
-multiple choice questions; they consist a stem statement or question that has numerous choices.
-Matching; this is made of 2 lists of images, words or phrases whereby a learner is required to evaluate the stem and match a word with an image or phrase from a list of possible responses.
-True/false; these are question which require a student to answer whether a given question is true or false.
2. Extended written response
In this assessment a student is requires to come up with a written answer to a question which should include at least a number of sentences in responding to a task or question. In extended written response a student needs to have writing skills in English, it needs consistency in scoring, is also time consuming and is appropriate in assessing FOR learning instances and particularly in reasoning analysis. (Stiggins, 2005)
- 3.Performance assessments
This is a form of assessment which needs a student to carry out a task rather than being provided with a list that is ready made and being asked to choose an answer. The teachers with then judge the work of a student based on the observation made on a predetermined criteria. It is commonly used in directly evaluating the writing capability on the basis of the material student produces when under instructions.
4. Direct personal communication
This is an assessment method that entails the informal and formal communication between a teacher and a student. This method is considered as flexible as it allows the instructors to;
-investigate the depth and breadth of what students have learnt, value and can do.
-Gather students’ information regarding their feelings, opinions, ideas, interests and preferences.
-Share views with learners.
-Encourage learners to articulate, extend, and clarify what they think about a given issue.
5. Portfolios
Portfolios refer to an assortment of the samples of the work of a student which indicate that there has been some advancement in terms of learning. Portfolios contain a documentation of the learning reflections, ideas and activities of a learner and this enables students to take charge of their education.
Are standardized testing and language proficiency workable methods for monitoring student progress in general? Why or why not?
Standardized tests and language proficiency tests have proved to be workable methods for evaluating a student’s performance because they are reliable and valid and give an objective opinion of a student’s performance. Such tests give a common standard or yard stick of a learner’s performance. (Gottlieb, 2006)
Conclusion.
It is evident from this essay that proficiency in English language is very crucial for any student. However, the traditional tests have proved to be ineffective in assessing the proficiency of learners on the basis of their lack of integrity and validity. New testing models such as ACCESS has proved effective in a number of fronts, nevertheless they have their own drawbacks. In an attempt to solve this problems there have emerged new alternative formats of assessment that have proved useful in assessing the performance of students.
Reference:
Abedi, J. (2007): English language proficiency assessment in the nation; current status and future practice. The regents of the University of California.
CaliforniaStateUniversity (1998): Principles of good practice for assessing student learning. Academic affairs outcomes assessment forum. San Bernardino. Retrieved on 2010-04-13 from http://web.archive.org/web/20061208021319/http://academic-affairs.csusb.edu/progs/assessment/forumf98.htm
Gottlieb, M (2006): Assessing English Language Learners; bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Corwin Press, Inc.
Stiggins, R., & Chappius, J. (2005): Using student-involved classroom assessment to close achievement gaps. Pg. 11-18. Theory into Practice.
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