The State of School-Based Bilingual Assessment: Actual Practice Versus Recommended Guidelines

Abstract

This study underscores the need for academic training programs and professional organizations to intentionally disseminate information regarding the expediency of alternative testing procedures. Implications for the adequate nonbiased assessment of bilingual children are discussed.

Identification of Specific Language Impairment in Bilingual Children: I. Assessment in English

“…Unfortunately, the usefulness of bilingual assessment is limited by the combination of numerous languages being spoken in school settings, few bilingual SLPs, lack of developmental data on many languages, few tests that are normed on bilinguals, and a lack of empirically derived cut scores for determining good versus poor performance in either L1 or L2. English is the common language for all bilingual, second-language learners in the United States, and English language testing routinely informs diagnostic decisions about ELLs at risk for SLI (e.g., Caesar & Kohler, 2007;Williams & McLeod, 2012). This study provides evidence-based criteria for using English language testing to identify language impairments in bilingual children who have been enrolled in school for at least 1 academic year and are listening to and speaking English at least 30% of the day.…”

“…English is a common language for second-language-learning students from a wide range of language backgrounds (Paradis, Schneider, & Duncan, 2012) and for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), who often administer English language standardized assessment instruments to bilingual children in order to inform their diagnostic decisions (e.g., Caesar & Kohler, 2007;Williams & McLeod, 2012).…”

“…The average LR− value, which represents the confidence in using scores above the cut-point for identifying typical language, was 0.22, 95% CIs [.11, .46]. Dollaghan and Horner concluded that no language measure in Spanish or English stood out as optimal for discriminating between bilingual children with SLI or typical language, with most measures yielding only somewhat suggestive results.English is a common language for second-language-learning students from a wide range of language backgrounds (Paradis, Schneider, & Duncan, 2012) and for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), who often administer English language standardized assessment instruments to bilingual children in order to inform their diagnostic decisions (e.g., Caesar & Kohler, 2007;Williams & McLeod, 2012).The current study was designed to derive empirically supported cutoff scores for identifying SLI in bilingual (Spanish-English-speaking) children based on their English language performance. Starting with a group of English-language learners (ELLs) who share Spanish as their first language was a logical first step in the process of examining the diagnostic value of English language testing for the larger population of ELLs in U.S. schools.…”

Speech-language pathologists as determiners of the human right to diversity in communication for school children in the US

“…The primary purpose of administering a standardised test is to determine if a child is significantly different from her peers (Paul & Norbury, 2012). However, content bias, linguistic bias, and disproportionate representation in sampling in standardised tests have been well documented (Arias & Friberg, 2017;Caesar & Kohler, 2007;Laing & Kamhi, 2003). In determining the presence of a disability, it is imperative that SLPs understand that children from CLD backgrounds are often unaccustomed to the culture of standardised testing which fails to take into account bilingual language development and relies on mainstream cultural knowledge (Munoz, White, & Horton-Ikard, 2014).…”

Collaborations to address barriers for people with communication disabilities in Ghana: Considering the World Report on Disability

“…In the US changes designed to enhance the quality of services often meet resistance from the entrenched powers and fossilized ways (Caesar & Kohler, 2007 When this work began 5 years ago, the authors asked the parents what they wanted for their children. The parents agreed that they wished their children could take on a traditional Ghanaian child ' s role -to buy food for the family in the local village ' s open air market.…”