Table Of ContentSocial Consequences of
Testing for Language-
minoritized Bilinguals in the
United States
BILINGUAL EDUCATION & BILINGUALISM
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BILINGUAL EDUCATION & BILINGUALISM: 117
Social Consequences
of Testing for
Language-minoritized
Bilinguals in the
United States
Jamie L. Schissel
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit
DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/SCHISS2708
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Names: Schissel, Jamie L., 1980– author.
Title: Social Consequences of Testing for Language-minoritized Bilinguals in the
United States/Jamie L. Schissel.
Description: Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters, [2019] | Series: Bilingual
Education & Bilingualism: 117 | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018046318 (print) | LCCN 2019001357 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781788922715 (pdf) | ISBN 9781788922722 (epub) |
ISBN 9781788922739 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781788922708 (hbk : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781788922692 (pbk: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Bilingualism–Social aspects–United States. | Linguistic minorities–
Social aspects–United States. | Children of minorities–Education–United States. |
Multicultural education–United States–Evaluation. | Education, Bilingual–Social
aspects–United States. | English language–Study and teaching–Foreign speakers.
Classification: LCC LC3731 (ebook) | LCC LC3731 .S345 2019 (print) | DDC
306.44/60973–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046318
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-270-8 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-78892-269-2 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters
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Copyright © 2019 Jamie L. Schissel.
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
Language-minoritized Bilingual Test-takers in the United States 1
Tests and Assessments 4
Brief Histories of Testing 6
Overview of the Book 12
1 Conceptualizing a Historical Narrative of Social Consequences 14
Conceptualizing Histories of Discrimination 15
Validity and Language-minoritized Bilinguals 19
The Task That Follows 34
Part 1: Immigration Policy in the United States 37
Pre-Civil War Period 37
Post-Civil War Period 38
World War I era 38
World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War 39
Civil Rights Discussions 40
Immigration During the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam
War 41
Amnesty 43
The ‘War on Terror’ 44
Summary 44
2 Seeking Access to Civic Participation 45
Literacy Testing 45
Naturalization and Citizenship 52
Testing in the Military 62
Discussion 74
3 Seeking to Enter the United States: A Focus on the Ellis Island
and Angel Island Ports of Entry 77
Ellis Island 78
v
vi Contents
Angel Island 91
Discussion 96
Part 2: Educational Trends 99
Early Court Cases About Language Education 99
Legislation on Bilingual Education 100
Bilingual Education and Segregation 104
Federal Policy Shifts with NCLB and ESSA 105
Summary 107
4 Seeking Education in K-12 Schools 108
Intelligence Testing 109
Standardized Testing of Content and English Proficiency 119
Discussion 127
5 Seeking Higher Education 129
College Admissions Testing 130
English Proficiency Testing 136
Discussion 142
Concluding Thoughts 143
Language-minoritized Bilinguals as Intersectional Individuals 144
Language-minoritized Bilinguals and Histories of
Discrimination 145
Thoughts Moving Forward 146
References 148
Index 165
Acknowledgments
While meandering and muddling through this writing process, I have
much appreciated the support of so many who are connected to me and
with this moment. Summer and Travis, my sister and brother, and Erin
and Adam, who are like a sister and brother too, have been great people
to travel together through life with, as have been my great-grandparents,
grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, who really are too
numerous to begin to name. I want to offer so much love and gratitude
to Alma, Amy, Ana, Andres, Ann, Belem, Beni, Beverly, Bridget, Chris,
Colleen, Crissa, Daniel, Daniela, Donna, Edwin, Fabiola, Fany, Fatima,
Haley, Hannah, Inky, Jacqi, Jeannette, Jen, Jenice, Jiyoon, Johan, John,
Joy, Juan Manuel, Julio, Karam, Kate, Katie, Kiara, Lan, Laura, Lizzy,
Lore, Luisa, Margaret, Marypaz, Meg, Melody, Micheline, Mody, Monica,
Nick, Nina, Pam, Randy, Sara, Sara, Sarah, Saskia, Sofia, Talo, Tatyana,
Traci, Vero, Vilma, Yareni, Ye, Yesenia, Yubi and Zhaleh for everything.
For feedback early on in the process, I want to thank Tim McNamara.
To Nelson Flores, Kamran Khan, David Low and Miranda Weinberg,
your comments were meticulous and I hope I did them justice. Thank
you to Asya Taylor, who helped with reference logistics, to Martha Reyes,
who helped keep other projects going while I finished up this book, and
to Alex Reyes, who made sure names and dates were on point. Thanks
also to the team at Multilingual Matters for all your support. I want to
express endless appreciation to Constant Leung, Mario López-Gopar and
Elana Shohamy for guiding me and my work, and in particular for our
shared enthusiasms in life and being. And I have so much gratitude to
give to Tommi Grover, Nancy Hornberger and Wayne Wright for their
com passion, empathy and conversations.
You all and so many others have done more for me than I can express
here. Thank you for being simply amazing.
vii
Dedicated to the memory of my mom, June, whose feisty spirit I honor on
a daily basis, to my sister, Summer, who still finds a way to look after me,
and to brother, Travis, with whom I share so many wonderful traditions.
Introduction
Tests and assessments have had a long history across the world. Before
delving into the intricacies of constructing a historical narrative of the
social consequences faced by language-minoritized bilinguals in the
United States, in this introductory chapter I begin by exploring who
language-minoritized bilinguals are and who they are positioned with
respect to testing terminology. Starting by exploring who the test-takers are
is purposeful, as this book centers their experiences through a use-oriented
testing approach (Shohamy, 2001, 2006). This is followed by background
on how tests, assessments, exams and evaluations are understood in this
book. Finally, the introduction presents an overview of the development
of tests as practices that are commonplace in most institutions in the
United States. The discussions of tests and the processes leading to their
development are largely descriptive.
Language-minoritized Bilingual Test-takers in the United States
In identifying who is a language-minoritized bilingual, I turn first to
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA
& NCME, 2014). The Standards have been developed by three leading
research organizations in education (American Educational Research
Association, AERA), psychology (American Psychological Association,
APA) and psychometrics/testing (National Council on Measurement in
Education, NCME). The Standards was first published in 1966 and is
consulted by test developers throughout the process of creating a test.
The rationale for starting with the definition of a ‘language-minoritized
bilingual’ in relation to The Standards is to connect the historical narrative
that follows and the experiences of language-minoritized bilinguals to
the guidelines that are in place to inform test design, development and
interpreta tion. That is to say, to ensure that the historical narrative
presented in this book is applicable to an audience that has the power
to make meaningful changes in testing practices related to language-
minoritized bilinguals, I first present how the individuals whom I refer
to as language-minoritized bilinguals co-inhabit the category of ‘English
language learner’ articulated in The Standards.
The conceptualization of individuals as English language learners
informs whose experiences are included in this history. The term ‘English
1
