ELL Assessment Process
The English Language Learner (ELL) assessment process is different in each state. Each state must assess student’s performance in reading or language arts in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In addition NCLB requires that schools receiving Title III funds annually assess the English Proficiency of all Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students participating in Title III programs. Although the assessments may vary, the goals of the assessments are all the same, to assess where students are as they learn the English language. Is this assessment enough or should alternative assessments be required?
In our area of New York State, which is known as the Southern Tier, there are very few ELL students. Compared to other areas of our country the schools in this area are small and the economy does not offer much to draw people to the area, therefore we have very few newcomers to the area. The school in my district, Hinsdale Central School, has 450 students pre-k through 12th grade, and currently has 1 ELL student enrolled. This is the first ever ELL student at this school, and as such has caused the school to look at how they will handle these students.
The assessment process begins at the school in several ways. Usually at the time of enrollment it is noted that the child is an English language learner. If in some way this is not caught at enrollment, the general educator can usually spot this right away. The first step in the process is to assess the student to see where the student’s performance level is at. There are four performance levels where students can be placed. These performance levels are beginning, intermediate, advanced, or proficient. The performance level will indicate the...
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...’ needs are, and is usually done by the person who will meet those needs, this is one of the most important assessments that there is.
By using the assessments described above, all ELL students can meet all of their educational goals. The NYSESLAT is a good test to determine the proficiency of the language learners and is a fair way of assessing their needs. As with anything, the tests and assessments used are only as good as the people implementing them.
Works Cited
Pasciak, M. B. (2011, June 28). Board decides against ousting Williams. Retrieved July
26, 2011, from Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/city/schools/article469822.ece
Peregoy, S. F. (2008). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. Pearson.
Stiggins, R., & Chappius, J. (2005, Winter). Using Student-Involved Classroom
Assessment to Close Achievement Gaps. Theory Into Practice , 11-18.
Much research was completed for the making of this article. It was found that ELL’s need time to develop oral English proficiency, teachers need to use ongoing authentic formative assessments throughout the year due to
...ell can work together to solidify the learning environment for the student in need and create a better learner as a result.
There are several key ideas that are crucial to understanding the best way to teach young, ELL students. The first idea is the importance of recognizing ELL’s feelings of isolation and alienation. When a teacher recognizes this, they are more capable of helping the student feel a part of the class. The student will struggle to participate if they do not feel like they belong with the other students. There is not only a language barrier, but also sociocultural differences that prohibit them from feeling accepted. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of acknowledging this problem and being aware during classroom activities. She suggests that you get a deep understanding of their cultural background, not just a “touristy” one.
Due to the rise in immigration and the demographics of classrooms in America are changing. As a result, English Language Learners are becoming more common in schools. English Language Learners make up one of the largest demographics in the American Classroom (Flynn & Hill, 2005). These students have been observed to have a major achievement gap because many of these students are placed in mainstream classrooms with basic literacy skills. Many English Language Learners are born in the United States (Goldenberg, 2008). These students have only attended the school system in America. However, the achievement levels are nowhere near the level of their peers. According to Calderon, Slavin, and Sanchez (2011) “these students, who have been in U.S. schools since kindergarten, are still classified as limited English proficient when they reach middle or high school— suggesting strongly that preschool and elementary programs are not adequately addressing the needs of English learners.” The achievement gap between English Language Learners and native English speaking students is extremely high. English Language Learners tests scores are low. According to the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress, “fourth grade ELLs scored 36 points lower than their peers on the reading section of the test and 25 points below their peers in math. The results in eighth grade were worse with a difference of 42 points in reading and 37 points in math” (Goldenberg, 2008). The gap between ELLs and non-ELLs are three to eighteen points larger then students from low-income households.
Assessments should guide instruction and material selection. Any likely manner, assessments should measure student progress, as well as help, identify deficiencies in reading (Afflerback, 2012). One important indicator of reading deficiencies is spelling. Morris (2014), advocated the importance of administering a spelling assessment in order to have a better understanding of a student’s reading abilities. My school uses the Words Their Way spelling inventory to assess students’ reading abilities at the beginning of the year and throughout the reading year.
This is the process in which a student will take a vocabulary test at the beginning of the school year which will be graded. On this grading scale, students receive a reading range in which they are aloud to read books according to their difficulty level.
For starters, I would like to have more information on the student prior to assessing. I would like to know about the student classroom experience with reading. As a future Special Education Teacher, I have a passion for helping students who face more challenges. This student did not demonstrate that he faced reading challenges. In hindsight, I would like to have worked with a student with reading challenges in order to start developing a plan to close the achievement gap. Although, all students have room to grow, so I am glad to have worked with
Build on learners' prior knowledge; (4.) Provide constant review; (5.) Simplify language; (6.) Build other skills while developing English. The use of standardized testing to identify and assess the progress of English language learners with special needs is problematic. Normally designed for native English speakers, many assessment instruments do not reliably assess speakers of other languages because they ignore differences among linguistic and cultural groups (Schwarz & Burt, 1995). Assessment of English language learners with special needs should...
Creating assessments for ELLs are tedious, but with the appropriate resources, mainstream teachers will conquer this process by collaborating with their grade level teams, that the objectives stay consistent.
Standardized tests are changed each year so that the questions are different, and so changing the complexity of the language on the test can be an easy change that takes place in just one year. Language simplification tested for students in grade 8 resulted in higher scores for ESL students, (Phelps). Simply changing the words used on the tests can help to fix a problem that has caused serious problems in the education field for years. Also, in order to not inflate the testing scale for those students who would do better with simplification, the language simplification could be a policy strictly implemented into the tests that could be made specifically for each type of ESL student. Considering that language is not a truly tested part of the test, it would seem fit that the ability to comprehend questions is made fair for all students, (LeChapelle). Thus, language simplification is a simple, non-intrusive solution to a large problem for LEP students in standardized
We as educators must first develop reading skills for our ELL students so that they will get in the habit of reading and writing. We must also look at different avenues to increase their literacy skills. We must work on the strengths of our ELL students. When we work on what our ELL students already know then we can help build upon students learning from multiple languages. We can even have the ELL students share their native language with other students. This can help make learning interesting when they share their cultural background.
Imagine coming into a new country with no knowledge of their language. Now, imagine being a young child having to come in a new country with no knowledge of their language and having to go to school with the native students. That student who is in a new country and school will feel left out and frustrated. They are around new customs and people, the teaching that they were once used to has change and the teachers, they might speak fast and the student is even more confused and they might want to give up. This is where the school board comes into place and help students that is new to their county learn English with the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages(TESOL) program; to include the English Language Learners(ELL) students in the curriculum and have them interact with other students.
The first concept of needs is physiological needs. Man’s needs are to have the ability to be organize . The best way to be organize is hierarchy. At the lowest level , it is important for person to have pre-eminent. A person at the lower levels needs to provide a shelter and food . Another need to that needs to fulfill is safety needs. A man’s need to feel safe from danger, threat , and deprivation. In organization , employees needs to feel safe from discrimination and unpredictable administration . Social needs is another aspect a person need in business. A person needs to belong by accept from their co-workers, and management. It is also important for manager to motivate their employees . Ego needs are important as well. It is important for employee to have high self -confidence and self -esteem . Employees needs to have self-fulfillment ( when a person discovered potential). It is important for person be motivate because they will have confidence to complete
Gottlieb state, “The common language assessment, Gottlieb proposes, is language-centered assessment geared toward English learners. It is a type of classroom-based assessment aligned well with the instruction students receive. Yet it also ensures the validity, reliability and usefulness of test results through school-, district-, and community-level collaboration and commitment” (2012). On can see, that common language assessments holds its value on gathering accurate data. Data that is reliable and valid because it is aligned with the concepts that the students are going to learn. This is very important because the students should be meeting the state objectives and the assessments are there to help the teacher gather information to make the objectives understandable to the ELL community. This way the students are meeting the objectives; as oppose, to meeting partial of it. As a result, this is the importance of establishing language benchmarks; in addition, this is what gives the teachers the breakdown of the language need to teach the objective. In other words, the benchmarks let the teachers know what is expected from each student and what additional resources is need to help
The teacher will also make norm-referenced and criterion referenced interpretations of assessment through this website. They have graph and color-coded bands that show widely held expectations for children’s development and learning. The teacher will use this website and graph to communicate twice a year with the parents about the child’s strength, weakness or any area of