Assessment

The goal for all educators is to help improve student learning, but how can this be done if we do not know where students are at and how we can support their specific individual needs? Having assessment literacy allows educators to develop the knowledge and skills to authentically assess students so they are supported and empowered in their learning.

PRINCIPLES TO ENSURE FAIR AND EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT FOR ELLS:

• Asset Focused
  ELLs come to school with prior knowledge and experiences that should be valued and seen as assets to their learning. Allow students to use their home languages when possible (Stahl and Garcia, 2022).

• Consider Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives
  Be mindful of factors on the assessment that may represent cultural values or prior knowledge and vocabulary that students may be unfamiliar with.

• Use Multiple Measures
  Use a variety of assessment tools to allow students to demonstrate what they know and can do. Ensure assessment tasks are accessible.

• Ongoing Assessment
  Aside from formal language assessments, conduct ongoing informal assessments and observations during classroom lessons and activities.

• Assessment does not equal Ability
  Ability is dynamic (not fixed), and varies depending on context. Assessment only provides a snapshot of what a student can do on a particular task, in a particular moment.

TOP 10 ORAL LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Value and learn about students’ home languages.
   Why? Having information about a student’s home language and linguistic background can help educators become more aware of cross-linguistic transfer, find ways to support the student through translations and peer collaboration, and send a positive message about viewing additional languages as an asset.
   
   

2. Assess students’ social and academic language.
   Why? Students can often sound proficient in their social language, but still need support to learn academic language. For students to succeed at school, they “need to have the language that will help them understand and engage with academic content” (Helman et al., p. 62).
   
   

3. Assess all four aspects of language proficiency: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
   Why? Students do not achieve proficiency in these four areas at the same rate. Receptive language skills (listening and reading) often come before expressive language skills (speaking and writing).
   
   

4. Be mindful of students’ level of comfort during assessment.
   Why? Students’ unfamiliarity with the staff member conducting the assessment or with assessment measures (such as how to use a computer) may negatively impact how they perform on the formal assessment.
   
   

5. Be mindful of factors on the assessment that may represent cultural values or prior knowledge and vocabulary that students may be unfamiliar with.
   Why? Unfamiliarity with certain cultural factors can cause a student to score lower on the assessment, despite having the knowledge being assessed.
   
   

6. Aside from formal language assessments, conduct ongoing informal assessments of oral language during classroom lessons and activities.
   Why? Standardized formal assessments can provide a snapshot of growth and progress over time, but do not fully reflect the student’s current language capabilities.
   
   

7. Use assessment data to inform classroom instructional practices and support, supplementary services, and how parents can assist with language development at home.
   Why? Considerable time and effort goes into conducting assessments, but results are often filed away without considering how to use the information to guide and inform instruction.
   
   

8. Collaborate with specialists at the school and/or district level on how best to support students, especially if there are any concerns about specific challenges.
   Why? Each educator/specialist has specific knowledge for instructing and supporting students’ development. For example, ELL specialists have explicit knowledge of English language development that can be applied to differentiate instruction for various levels of proficiency.
   
   

9. Create a positive, language rich environment.
   Why? Oral language is learned through listening and speaking. Students need many opportunities to practice speaking in a welcoming and supportive environment.
   
   

10. Provide explicit English language instruction.
    Why? Students who receive “regular, systematic, and clearly defined English language instruction” do better than their peers who do not or only receive language instruction through classroom content studies (Helman et al., p. 83).

Assessing speaking skills in Grades 1-3, for students in Levels 1 to 4 of proficiency (from LearnAlberta.ca)

After formal and/or informal assessments have been completed, the data must be used to help improve students’ language development. The results should inform classroom instruction and supplementary ELL support. The results should also be made available to parents, including suggestions for how parents can assist in their child’s language development at home. These should be made available in the family’s home language as well so it can be understood.