Higher Standards for All

State Policies and Practices That Support Equitable Assessment For English Language Learners

▪Provide leadership that helps educators and the public understand and accept new assumptions about the purpose of standards-bases state assessments.

• Ensure that assessment policies address the dual goals of excellence and equity in the nation’s schools.

▪ Choose assessment content that is appropriate for the diverse populations taking the test.

• Include English language learners in the field-test of state assessments to ensure validity.

▪ Establish scoring criteria appropriate for evaluating the work of English language learners and properly train those who score assessments.

•Document the use of accommodations that maximize the inclusion of English language learners in state assessments.

▪ Ensure that translated assessments are equivalent to the English version of the assessment.

•Disaggregate assessment data to monitor the achievement of English language learners.

School Policies and Practices That Support High Standards For English Language Learners

“High Standards for all” (Lachat, 2004)

▪ Provide English language learners with instruction that will enable them to develop higher-order proficiencies.

• Encourage teachers of English language learners to make connections between academic tasks and home cultures of students.

▪ Give English Language Learners additional time and support when they are learning classroom uses of language that are unfamiliar to them.

• Use authentic assessments that draw on English language learners’ real-life situations.

▪ Use multiple assessment strategies so English language learners have a wide range of options when showing what they know and can do.

•Establish scoring criteria for classroom performance assessments that are appropriate for English language learners.

▪Develop clear guidelines for interpreting assessment results so that English language learners are not placed inappropriately in special education classes.

• Make significant investments in professional development.

Lachat, M. (2004). Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment for English Langauge   Learners. California, CorwinPress.

These are just a few of the tips that we as teachers can use to help ELLs in our classrooms. If you want to do some research on your own you can check out the book where these tips were found, Standards-Based Instruction and Asessment for English Language Learners by clicking here.