Lynn Mary Toscano

June 29, 2009

UCRx CLAD through CTEL 084EDFF03

Assessment of English Language Learners

Final Project 4D

Purposes of Assessment

• Accountability

• Monitoring Student Progress

• Placement

• Program Evaluation

• Reclassification or Exit

• Screening and Identification for Support Programs

Formal & Informal Assessment

Formal Assessment • Time Restrictions• Scored by

– Correct answers given– Guidelines followed

Informal Assessment • Conducted in a relaxed context• Scored by

– the Student– a Peer of the Student– Teacher judgment

Types of Formal Assessment

• Cloze Tests• Constructed-Response Items• Experiments/Demonstrations• Portfolios• Presentations• Projects/Exhibitions• Writing Samples • Standardized tests

– California English Language Development Test (CELDT)– California Standardized Tests (CST)– End Of Semester Testing (EOST)– Renaissance Learning Standardized Test for the Assessment of

Reading (RenLearn STAR)

Types of Informal Assessment

• Oral Interviews

• Peer Evaluation

• Role-play

• Self-Evaluation

• Story or Text Retelling

• Teacher Observation

Performance-Based Authentic Assessment

• Any form of assessment in which the student constructs a response orally or in writing

• Both formal and informal contexts

• Observed during classroom instructional or non-instructional settings

• Solve realistic or authentic problems

• Use prior knowledge and recent learning

Characteristics of Performance-Based Authentic Assessment

• Constructed responses

• Higher-order thinking

• Authenticity

• Integrative

• Process and Product

• Depth vs. Breadth

Authentic Assessment

Authentic Assessment describes multiple forms ofassessment that reflect

• achievement • attitudes• motivation • student learning

during instructionally-relevant classroom activities.

It is constructivist in nature because it is tied to instruction using a systematic collection of information that records the performance of individual students.

Ways to Evaluate Authentic Assessment

• Anecdotal records

• Peer evaluation

• Self-Evaluation

• Scoring scales

• Checklists

• Rubrics

Anecdotal Records

Teacher documents situations where the

student is involved in

• Oral interviews

• Oral presentations

• Pair interaction

• Group participation

Peer-Evaluation

Students review each other’s work

• Use guided questions & rating scales

• List strengths and weaknesses of a partner’s work sample

• Rate the effectiveness of their classmates’ communication

• Prepare students for self-assessment

Self-Evaluation

Provides self-regulated learning where students• Construct meaning• Revise their understandings• Collaborate with other student in exchanging ideas• Elicit assistance when needed• Provide support for their peers Students have input on how it will be assessed through clearly stated criteria• Checklists• Documentation• Comparison • Integration

Checklists

• Lists criteria required to complete the task– Preparation, gather materials needed– Components of the task– Timelines– Types of acceptable responses for the task– Indicates level attempted with a rating code

• A column is provided to check off criteria as they are completed

Scoring Scales

Gives a rating using various methods

• Numerical

• Coded

• Levels of Proficiency

RubricsAre precisely defined in terms of what the student does todemonstrate skill or proficiency.• Students have explicit guidelines of teacher expectations• Students can use rubrics as a tool to develop their

abilities• Criteria are discussed with the students before they

complete the assignment

Teachers • can reuse rubrics for various activities. • increase the quality of their direct instruction by providing

focus, emphasis, and attention to particular details as a model for students.

Types of Rubrics

Holistic or Analytic scoring scales

require teachers to use judgment when

scoring student responses.

Holistic Rubrics

• Fine distinctions are made at each level• Should use at least a four point rating scale• Presented as what students should try to do• Fine distinctions in a student's abilities • "understand the student's achievement and

progress in school" (O’Malley & Pierce, 1996)   • Requires a slightly more demanding

performance from the student on each criterion• Difference between the levels is the degree of

control the student has over each of the domains of scoring.

Analytic Rubrics• A separate rating is given to each of the separate

components in the scale• Rubrics identify and assess components of a finished

product. • Each of the separate components being learned is rated • Communicates diagnostic information • Separates the features into components that are each

scored separately. • Provides feedback on specific aspects • Gives diagnostic feedback for planning instruction • Can show a rapid progress of improvement • Scores are assigned to each of a number of domains • Used at the state level in California with variations for

local emphasis

Types of Authentic Assessment

• Constructed-Response Items• Cloze tests• Writing Samples• Experiments/Demonstrations • Oral interviews• Presentations• Portfolios • Projects/Exhibitions• Story or Text Retelling• Teacher Observations

Constructed-Response Items

Students read or review textual materials• Respond to a series of open-ended questions eliciting

comprehension and higher-order thinking• Create semantic maps• Brief comments• Extended essays

Respond in a variety of ways appropriate to their level of English proficiency• Provides feedback • Based on how students apply information

Cloze Tests• Students read passages with blanks that represent

deleted words from the original text

• Students fill in the blanks (sometimes with a word bank)

• Is a screening device to diagnose progress and placement

• Estimates reading level based on number of blanks to number of words in the passage

Independent level – recognizes vocabularyInstructional level – reads with some assistanceFrustration level – struggles unsuccessfully with assistance

Experiments/Demonstrations

• Use actual materials to show how something works or reproduce an experiment

• Accompanied by an oral or written presentation

• Describes steps in a process

• Rated on the student’s understanding of the concept

Oral Interviews

• Best with very young or beginning/early intermediate levels of students

• Respond orally to a range of topics• Determines student comprehension or

knowledge of the language.• Used for instructional planning• Records growth of accuracy and fluency over

time• Should be conducted on an ongoing basis• Scored with rubrics, rating scales or checklists

and self-assessment

Presentations

Students participate in oral presentations

• Debates• Plays/Improvisation/Role-play• Projects• Speeches• Story telling• Radio audio and video broadcasts

Elicits the use of academic language & vocabulary.

Are scored with rubrics, rating scales or checklists.

Portfolios

• Purposeful collection of student work that is intended to show progress over time.

• Samples include: audio/video recordings, writing, art, graphs, charts, interviews & conference records, checklists, tests, and quizzes.

• Indicates the extent students are benefiting from instruction

• Samples are selected by students and the teacher• Progress through comparison of samples gathered• Scored by rubrics, visible criteria and differentiated

scoring • Records the research process used for research reports

and the writing process for the writing styles

Projects/Exhibitions

• Students exhibit their work on specific topics with diagrams or realia

• Students communicate step-by-step procedures

• Rates content, organization, and language used

• Might be scored by a panel of judges using rubrics

Story or Text Retelling

• Students read a story or text to retell the main idea or selected details to the teacher or class

• Student can be rated on their description of events, response to the story or text, and their language proficiency

• Students at all levels can participate with modifications

Teacher Observations

• Both spontaneous events and planned classroom activities can be observed

• Observe student’s use of academic language and higher-order thinking skill in task-oriented discussions

• Observations are summarized in personal notes that document what students can do

• Teachers note responses to various curriculum or instructional approaches

Writing Samples

• Students generate expressive, narrative, expository, persuasive or informative writing

• Students write in genres such as journals, essay, research, or newspaper article

• Have specific performance criteria that student produces in a fixed period of time

• Uses both holistic and analytic scoring rubrics and self-assessment

Standardized Tests

Standardized Tests are multiple choice test whose purpose is to give accountability of growth by

• comparing scores though benchmark exams to other students in our district and state

• electronically scoring “scantron” answer sheets or answers entered into a computer

• Placement based on the number of correctly answered questions

Types of Standardized Tests

• California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

• California Standardized Tests through Standardized Testing and Reporting (CST STAR)

• End Of Semester Testing (EOST)• Renaissance Learning Standardized Test

for the Assessment of Reading (RenLearn STAR)

CELDTCalifornia English Language Development Test • Tests word recognition through listening, visuals

and short answer. It is scored according to he number of correct responses.

• Teachers use the CELDT results to identify & differentiate EL students

• Through scores on subtests, teachers use the CELDT to place students into five levels of language development

CST STARCalifornia Standardized Tests; Standardized Testing & Reporting Multiple choice tests in

• English Language Arts• Math• History• Science

Compares students to other students in the state and district.

Students record their answers by “bubbling” in their choice on an answer sheet.

EOSTEnd of Semester Tests

In our school district, teams of teachers design multiple choice tests based on the

• Curriculum adoptions and guidelines • CSTs

A scantron is used where student record their selected answers.

It serves as evidence that students have learned the required curriculum for their grade level.

RenLearn STARRenaissance Learning

Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading • Our school uses this test to place students into

a reading grade level • It is a computerized multiple choice test that is

automatically scored and provides immediate results

• It can be used to support CELDT results or to indicate a student’s reading level in the Renlearn Accelerated Reader (AR) program

Assessment is part of learning.

Assessment helps teachers provide

programs and services that lead students

toward success.

ReferencesCabrera, Y. (2008). Master plan for English learners.

Colton, CA: Colton Joint Unified School District.

O’Connell, J. (2009 ). Testing and accountability. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education. Retrieved on June 29, 2009 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/.

O’Malley, J.M. & Pierce, L.V. (1996). Authentic assessment for English language learners: Practical approaches for teachers. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley Longman.

Tannenbaum, J. (1996) Practical Ideas on Alternative Assessment for ESL Students. Washington, DC: ERIC Digest.