Testing English-Language Learners in U.S. Schools Report and Workshop Summary (2000) / Chapter Skim
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Committee Findings
Committee Findings
Pages 5-11
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From page 5... ...
It is crucial, he noted, to include all students in testing designed to hold teachers and administrators accountable for the education they are providing these students.3 However, testing students whose language skills are likely to significantly affect their test performance will yield inaccurate results, unless it is English-language skills that are being tested. Accommodations can help students demonstrate what they know, but they can easily be misapplied; inappropriately applied accommodations-that is, ones that are not well designed to suit the content or skills being measuredcan distort test results.
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From page 6... ...
They need to develop not only mastery of conversational English, but also mastery of the academic spoken and written English necessary to do the academic work for which they are ready. Accomplishing the latter takes four to seven years, on average.
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From page 7... ...
Moreover, since students are frequently moved out of language support programs before they are completely proficient in English, particularly academic English, studies of their academic performance, career trajectories, and continuing language development after leaving the program would be very useful. Greater understanding of the effects of different accommodations was also cited as an important need.
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From page 8... ...
Many of the workshop discussions seemed to lead toward a shared sense that the real goal in testing English-language learners is to strike a workable, real-world balance tailored to particular circumstances to find ways to have true accountability for the successful education of these students without letting assessments turn into punishments for students or teachers. POINTS TO CONSIDER Perhaps because the variations in student populations and local circumstances were raised so frequently during the workshop, attention centered on questions that could profitably be asked about specific testing programs to help educators achieve the hoped-for balance.
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From page 9... ...
While it is clear that a variety of real-world factors influence decisions about inclusion and accommodations, thoughtful consideration of possible longterm effects (such as effects on graduation rates, or the long-term impact of spending priorities, for example) can be a useful corrective to short-term political considerations.
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From page 10... ...
4 Recommendation 2: Test developers, educators, and policy makers should make better use of existing knowledge of how these areas can be assessed by, for example, taking pains to use assessments that avoid unnecessary linguistic complexity; adapting existing tests of English proficiency to assess incremental progress; using a variety of appropriate means to assess students' academic and linguistic progress; and avoiding inappropriate practices such as arbitrary cut-offs in the length of time that Englishlanguage learners can receive testing accommodations or other supports. In part because of past policies of excluding English-language learners from large-scale data collection efforts, information about their educational status has been spotty and less reliable than it should be.
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From page 11... ...
Researchers, policy makers, and the public need valid information that yields insights into how these students fare whether or not they are enrolled in instructional programs that target their linguistic and cognitive needs as second-language learners. Information is also needed about English-language learners after they leave school and move into the workforce, and after they stop receiving any educational supports.
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