Assessment of English Language Learners in the Era of New Academic Content Standards

Opportunities and Outcomes: The Role of Peers in Developing the Oral Academic English Proficiency of Adolescent English Learners

“…Measures of English language proficiency are often enlisted to capture individual emergent bilingual students’ knowledge and ability to use academic English for instructional needs at school. Interpretation and use of language proficiency assessments need to account for the linguistic demands of academic tasks that vary by discipline and grade level as well as by content, and capture word‐, sentence‐, and discourse‐level features (Bailey & Carroll, ). The alignment of oral academic language proficiency measures with oral academic language practices has been a particular concern prior to efforts to revise assessments for the new content standards (Hopkins et al., ; Saunders & O'Brien, ).…”

Key Issues and Opportunities in the Initial Identification and Classification of English Learners

“…This provision can only happen if language‐minority students—whether EL or IFEP—are properly identified and classified. Incorrectly classified students are less likely to be provided with instructional services that match their strengths and needs (Bailey & Carroll, ). They may be excluded from services that would better help them meet high academic standards, and they may not receive optimal supports to advance both linguistically and academically.…”

“…Another challenge arises from the use of tests as initial ELP assessments when the tests have not been designed specifically for that purpose. As a result of such practices, educators may make invalid interpretations of scores on initial ELP assessments and students may be misclassified as ELs (false positives) or as IFEP (false negatives; Bailey & Carroll, ). Next, we offer three recommendations regarding the construct definition and development of initial ELP assessments.…”

At the intersection of mathematics and language: Examining mathematical strategies and explanations by grade and English learner status

“…The new requirements for all students mean that their teachers must be ready to recognize a cogent explanation of mathematical understanding, as well as model and assist the acquisition of such explanations in order to support the deeper mathematics learning that the CCRS hope to foster (Bailey & Carroll, 2015). Furthermore, the increased emphasis on communication and collaboration in new standards for mathematics compared with prior standards requires teachers to understand relationships between mathematical strategies and the nature of the language that students will need in order to display their mathematical understanding to their teachers and peers (Bailey & Heritage, 2014).…”