assessing students with disabilities and ELL
Types of assessment ACCOMMODATIONS
Assessment accommodations are procedures or practices that permit students with disabilities to have an equal access to instruction and assessment (Popham 141).
- Presentation accommodations- giving students access to information in many ways: auditory, multisensory, tactile, visual.
- Response accommodations- giving students access to complete activities, assessments,and assignments in different ways or to solve/organize problems using an assistive device or organizer.
- Setting accommodations- changing the location or setting of the assessment.
- Timing and scheduling accommodations- increasing the amount of time to complete an assessment/assignment or change the way the time is organized.
ell students
English language learners are students in the United States and Canada that are "1) students whose first language is not English and know little, if any English 2) students who are learning English but could benefit from school instruction and 3) students who are proficient in English but need additional assistance in academic or social contexts" (Popham 142). ELL students can also include children that speak another language at home.
ELL students take high-stakes tests written in English; however, students who are counted in the adequate yearly progress (AYP) are those who have attended U.S. schools for 3 or more consecutive years. On a case by case basis, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will allow the assessments to be written in another language if it will give a more accurate representation of a student's achievement (Popham 143-144).
NCLB requires states to have their own "academic assessments of English language proficiency" so ELL students' skills in "oral language, reading, and writing" can be measured. Many states began creating these assessments because they did not have any on hand. (Popham 144).
Possible issues that may arise when testing ELL students...
ELL students take high-stakes tests written in English; however, students who are counted in the adequate yearly progress (AYP) are those who have attended U.S. schools for 3 or more consecutive years. On a case by case basis, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will allow the assessments to be written in another language if it will give a more accurate representation of a student's achievement (Popham 143-144).
NCLB requires states to have their own "academic assessments of English language proficiency" so ELL students' skills in "oral language, reading, and writing" can be measured. Many states began creating these assessments because they did not have any on hand. (Popham 144).
Possible issues that may arise when testing ELL students...
- Inconsistency in ELL classification across and within states: classification varies among and within states which will affect AYP reporting.
- Sparse ELL populations: in some states, there are not enough ELL students to give an adequate analyses.
- Subgroup instability: if a ELL student significantly improves, then that child is moved out of the ELL group and a new ELL student whose English proficiency is lower is moved in.
- Technical quality of AYP-determining assessment tools: assessment instruments made for native English speakers are less reliable when given to ELL students, so results of such tests can be misinterpreted.
- Lower baseline scores: schools with large populations of ELL students often have lower baseline scores and may have improvement goals that are unrealistic and challenging, so schools may not be able to meet state-set goals.
- Cut scores for ELL students: since Mathematics scores are less language dependent, the score differences between Math and other subjects may be significant making states with high ELL populations have harder AYP expectations than states with less ELL students (Popham 144-145).
