Table Of ContentAssessing English Language Learners in the Content Area
A Research-into-Practice
Guide for Educators
Assessing English Language Learners in the Content Area
A Research-into-Practice
Guide for Educators
Florin m. mihai
University of Central Florida
ann arbor
University of michigan Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mihai, Florin.
Assessing English language learners in the content areas : a research-into-practice
guide for educators / Florin Mihai.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-472-03435-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. English language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. 2. Language and
languages—Study and teaching. 3. Content area reading—Study and teaching.
I. Title.
PE1128.A2M54 2010
428.2’4—dc22 2010021417
PREfACE
Florin m. mihai
Given today’s educational environment, it is impractical
to talk about education without addressing the issues
of accountability and measurement of educational goals
and objectives. Current legislation in education, such as
the No Child Left Behind Act, places a strong emphasis on
accountability and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for
all students, including English Language Learners (ELLs).
Furthermore, more and more critical educational decisions
are linked to student performance on state assessments,
which extend beyond reading and math to include science
and social studies. However, existing structures and instru-
ments for evaluating ELLs in core content areas such as
math, science, and social science are either inadequate or
just being researched or developed.
Assessing English Language Learners in the Content
Areas: A Research-into-Practice Guide for Educators seeks
to provide guidance to classroom teachers, staff developers,
and test-item designers who want to improve ELL assess-
ment outcomes, particularly in the areas of math, science,
and social studies. The first two chapters of the book set the
background for the discussion of content-area assessment
for ELLs. Chapter 1, “English Language Learners in the
K–12 Environment in the United States,” examines several
important characteristics of this rapidly growing student
population, as well as critical legislation pertaining to ELLs.
Chapter 2, “Assessment: Definition, Types, and General
Principles,” starts by providing a definition of assessment,
as well as a description of various forms of assessment.
It also discusses how ELL assessment is different from
v
vi PREfACE
the assessment of English-proficient students and reviews important assess-
ment principles educators should use in their understanding and evaluation
of tests or other forms of measurement.
Chapter 3, “Large Scale Assessment in the Content Area and English Lan-
guage Learners,” starts with a thorough review of ELL test accommodations
nationwide and continues with a review of research done on the effective-
ness of these types of accommodations. Additionally, the chapter includes
several useful recommendations in two areas: the design of large-scale assess-
ments and the policies of standardized tests. Since states are likely to revise
their assessment accommodations during the life of this book, updates can be
found at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fmihai/.
Chapter 4, “Classroom-Based Assessment in the Content Areas and Eng-
lish Language Learners,” begins with emphasizing the importance of aca-
demic language proficiency in content area assessment. Then, content area
teachers are provided with a solid model for assessment design and imple-
mentation, a model that successfully integrates both content area knowledge
and English language proficiency in content area assessments.
Chapter 5, “Alternative Assessment Approaches in Content Area Class-
rooms for English Language Learners,” starts with a comparison between
alternative and traditional assessment in order to identify and analyze the
characteristics of alternative assessment. It continues with a discussion of
three popular alternative assessment instruments (performance assessment,
curriculum-based measurement, and portfolios) and ends with the presenta-
tion of recommendations to increase the validity, reliability, and practicality
of alternative assessments. The final chapter of the book, Chapter 6, “Essential
Considerations in Assessing English Language Learners,” proposes a set of
three fundamental assessment practices to help content area teachers in their
evaluation of their ELL progress.
It is a fact that the number of ELLs has increased at a very fast pace in the
last decade. However, the resources for the evaluation of ELLs in content area
classrooms have not kept pace with this massive growth in ELL population
(Espinosa and Lopez, 2007). In the future, with more resources available as
a result of an increased accountability regarding school and student prog-
ress, content area educators will be able to reduce the staggering number of
ELLs who drop out providing they have a better understanding of assessment
issues related to ELLs. For now, Assessing English Language Learners in the
Content Areas intends to be a useful means for building that understanding.
ContEnts
Chapter 1 English Language Learners in the K–12 Environment 1
in the United states
English Language Learners: Terminology, Definition, 2
and Identification
The Demographics of English Language Learners 7
English Language Learners: A Diverse or a Uniform 10
Population?
U.S. Legislation Affecting English Language Learners 14
Chapter 2 Assessment: Definition, types, and General Principles 22
What Is Assessment? 22
Assessment and English Language Learners 24
The Types of Assessment 26
The Principles of Assessment 36
Chapter 3 Large-scale Assessment in the Content Areas and English 49
Language Learners
Legislation and Assessment: General Considerations 49
A Survey of Large-Scale Accommodations for English 51
Language Learners
The Effectiveness of Large-Scale Accommodations 74
for English Language Learners
The Validity of Large-Scale Content Area Assessments 82
for the English Language Learner Student Population
Recommendations for Improving the Quality 85
of Large-Scale Assessment Instruments
vii
viii ContEnts
Chapter 4 Classroom-Based Assessment in the Content Areas 91
and English Language Learners
The Importance of Assessing English Language Learners 92
in Content Area Classrooms
The Interface of Language and Content in Content Area Assessment: 93
The Example of Mathematics
Academic Language: Definition and Framework 95
The Language of Content Area Tests (and Texts) 97
A Model for Designing and Implementing Classroom-Based 100
Content Area Assessments for English Language Learners
Stages of Second Language Development 106
California’s English Language Proficiency Levels 107
Language Development and Cultural Adaptation 108
Beyond Krashen: The New PreK–K TESOL Standards and Language 110
Proficiency Levels
Chapter 5 Alternative Assessment Approaches in Content Area Classrooms 125
for English Language Learners
Alternative Assessment: Definition and Examples 125
The Characteristics of Alternative Assessment Approaches 127
The Types of Alternative Assessment 129
The Challenges of Alternative Assessment 140
Chapter 6 Essential Considerations in Assessing English Language Learners 144
Three “Must-Do” ELL Assessment Practices for Content Area 144
Educators
Conclusion 146
Appendix A Assessment Activities for Mathematics, science, and social studies, 148
Adapted from the tEsoL Proficiency Levels
Appendix B Academic Vocabulary for Math, science, and social studies 163
References 179
Index 187
Chapter 1
English Language Learners
in the K–12 Environment
in the United States
Today’s K–12 educational environment in the United
States is characterized by an ever increasing diversity of
its student population. Such diversity encompasses various
categories of students. For example, in mainstream class-
rooms, other than the general student population, there
are students with special educational needs. In addition to
students with special needs, the general student population
increasingly includes students who are not fully proficient
in English. The number of students who are learning Eng-
lish has grown considerably in the past 10 years and is the
focus of this book.
Before we start to discuss the most effective methods
of assessment for English language learners, it is important
to investigate the attributes of this student population. We
will look at the definition of students who are learning Eng-
lish as an additional language, at their demographics, and at
the characteristics that make them unique in the U.S. K–12
educational context. Furthermore, we will review the laws
that pertain to this category of students, with a focus on the
legislation that has had and will have tremendous conse-
quences on both the large-scale and the classroom-based
assessment of students who are nonnative English speakers.
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