6.+Assessment+Irina

 = Chapter 6 = = Assessment = = By Irina Goldfard = = = 

Assessment is an essential aspect of the United States school system. Standardized tests are created in order to determine the academic progress of students. Teachers and administrators may have limited and insufficient knowledge and resources when assessing students from different language backgrounds other than English. As a result, an assessment bias in content and administration may result. Educators should be aware of the potential for the many sources of bias. Educators and clinicians must have training to provide fair and less strenuous assessments for multicultural language background students. Standardized tests are used to place students into classes with other students of similar knowledge and abilities and to assess students’ knowledge of learned topics. However, sometimes standardized tests lead to unfair placements of students into classes that they may not belong in, such as classes where English only is spoken. In these cases, assessments may also create a sense of inferiority for these students. This is especially true for ELL students, who lack a background in the English language and therefore find it difficult to pass these assessments. An assessment bias exists for these ELL students. As a result, many ELL students fail standardized tests and sometimes even drop out of school. Collaborative training and knowledge of multiculturalism is imperative for teachers and administrators who assess ELL students. Such knowledge could greatly foster less biased assessment methods. Test accommodations, such as more time, translations of certain parts of the tests, native language test versions, are available for ELL students. Teachers and administrators must provide ELL students with accommodations, conditions, and support in order to help ELL students achieve higher assessment scores and success in their education.
 * Introduction**


 * Main Points**

1. ELL students who are required to take high stakes exams achieve overall lower scores than monolingual English-speaking students.

2. ELL students have a limited amount of time to prepare for assessments and this increases the probability of lower test scores. Test preparation time should be increased for ELL students to help increase test scores.

3. Teachers working with ELL students are not always bilingual, causing a language barrier between ELL students and their teachers. ELL students should be provided with trained bilingual teachers who will accommodate their language needs and work with them to increase their achievement and assessment scores.

4. Assessments of ELLs are often made invalid by cultural bias. Incorporating cultural validity into assessments will decrease the occurrence of this bias.

5. Accommodations for ELL students during assessments are an essential part of the learning process. These accommodations include allowing extra time to answer questions, being assessed in a familiar setting, having bilingual glossaries, having a bilingual teacher or interpreter repeat test instructions, and using the native language to answer questions. ELL students may achieve higher grades on assessments if provided these accommodations.

6. Providing these special accommodations for those students need them will help promote a positive school setting and account for higher student performance.


 * Annotations and Links**

1. Coltrane, B. (2003). English Language Learners and High-Stakes Tests: An Overview of the Issues. ERIC Digest. Retrieved on September 25, 2008 from: http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/high-stakes.html This article addresses the role of “high stakes tests,” which are difficult for ELL students to complete because of lack of the English language. Therefore, the author suggests that ELL students should have special accommodations when taking these assessments. These accommodations include extra time for answering questions, taking the assessments in a familiar and comfortable setting, repeating test instructions from a qualified bilingual teacher, and allowing answers in the students’ native language. These accommodations would help the students pass and learn from assessments (I.G.).

2. Deycy, A. (2006). Regents Exams and English Language Learners. New York City, NY: Gotham Gazette. Retrieved on September 25, 2008 from http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/immigrants/20060601/11/1873 This article examines how ELL students are required for graduation to pass the Regents Exams in order to graduate. The majority of ELL students do not take Regents Exams at all. Those who do take Regents exams often achieve very low passing scores or do not pass at all. This occurs because ELL students are not prepared to take these exams. To help prepare these students for exams, NYC has accommodated these students by allowing them to bring bilingual dictionaries to the test site, providing them with more time to take the Regents exams, and grading them on how well they know the subjects and not on their knowledge of the English language. The ELL students might sometimes also be entitled to an interpreter at the Regents test site. Giving them stronger academic programs in their native languages will help them in the long run. (I.G.).

3. Irujo, S. (2004). Test Preparation for English Language Learners: Pros and Cons. The ELL Outlook. Retrieved on September 26, 2008 from http://www.coursecrafters.com/ELL-Outlook/2004/may_jun/ELLOutlookITIArticle4.htm This article addresses the positive and negative effects of test preparations for ELL students. The author mentions that ELL students are not given as much time as they should be given to prepare for exams. Many teachers are not trained to work with ELL students and therefore do not have the knowledge and the skills to work with ELL students at achieving higher grades on assessments. These teachers might not be bilingual and might not speak in the students’ native language, creating a language barrier between themselves and the students. Good instruction, practice, and academic language need to be combined to create an environment where ELL students would be able to succeed (I.G.).

4. Solano-Flores, G. (2002). Cultural Validity: The Need for a Socio-Cultural Perspective in Educational. New Orleans, LA: WestEd/National Center for Improving Science Education. Retrieved on September 25, 2008 from http://www.edgateway.net/cs/cvap/print/docs/cvap/pub_6.htm This article discusses the importance of cultural validity in assessment. The author addresses that there might be a cultural bias involved when we try to assess ELL students. This is especially significant for minorities and English language learners. It is stressed that the students who are assessed come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and therefore, cannot be assessed in the same way. Therefore, it is essential to get rid of the cultural biases in content and assessment methods (I.G.).

5. Stansfield, C. & Rivera, C. (2001). Test Accommodations for LEP Students. ERIC Digest. College Park, MD: ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. Retrieved on September 25, 2008 from http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-2/lep.htm This article illustrates how providing test accommodations for ELL students can benefit their education. Offering students extra time to take exams, having teachers clarify questions for them, and allowing the use of bilingual dictionaries during assessments can create an atmosphere where ELL students can learn and achieve higher grades on these exams. The article also mentions that it is important to identify those students who really need these accommodations from those students who do not. It is not necessary to provide these accommodations for all students, only for those students that are in need of them (I.G.).

6. Ascher, C. (1990). Assessing Bilingual Students for Placement and Instruction. NY: ERIC Clearing-house on Urban Education. Retrieved September 26, 2008 from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9217/placement.htm

7. Minicucci, A., Zabala, D., & Bartley, A.P. (2007). Caught in the Middle: Arizona's English Language Learners and the High School Exit Exam. Washington, D.C: Center on Education Policy. Retrieved on September 26, 2008 from http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document.showDocumentByID&nodeID=1&DocumentID=229

8. Tannenbaum, J. (1996). Practical Ideas On Alternative Assessment For ESL Students. Washington, D.C: Center For Applied Linguistics. Retrieved on September 26, 2008 from http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/tannen01.html