K-12 summative assessments are designed to evaluate what students know in subjects like mathematics, language arts and science. The results help stakeholders gauge the effectiveness of the education students receive. But what happens when students are English Learners (EL) with a less-than-firm grasp of the English language?
Today I’d like to talk about English Learners and explore how this important student population is currently being tested.
English Learners are students for whom English is not their first language, but who are in the process of learning English. While more than 70% of ELs in the United States speak Spanish as their first language, ELs speak almost 150 languages, including Yupik (the most common first language for ELs in Alaska) and Somali (the most common first language for ELs in Maine). Throughout the US, the EL population averages almost 10% of the public school population.
There is a frequent misconception that EL students are recent arrivals to the US—immigrants and refugees. That these students were born in other countries and began their education immersed in another country’s education system. While that is certainly true for some students, the reality is that the majority of EL students are American citizens who were born in the US.
Many experts believe that EL students need a period of five to seven years to adequately acquire enough academic English to be successful in school and beyond. However, some students will need more time and more support to be successful.
Summative assessments in the US are created in English to test students in various grade levels on specific subjects and curriculums. However, ELs may be tested differently depending on a variety of factors, which include: the state where the student attends school, the EL’s native language, the student’s level of English and the resources available.
EL students are typically evaluated in one of three ways: using English-only assessments, English-only assessments along with support resources, and assessments that have been translated and adapted into the EL’s native language.
In this common scenario, English-only assessments are given to all students, both students whose first language is English and students who have limited English proficiency. Yet, there is a danger in asking EL students to take English-only assessments, as they quickly turn into English tests and not actual assessments of the knowledge under evaluation. When asked to take English-only assessments, EL students—particularly EL students with lower levels of English—have less of an opportunity to demonstrate what they know than other students do.
A common type of test accommodation for EL students is to provide language support resources alongside the English assessment. This may be a glossary, a dictionary and/or the test instructions translated into the student’s native language. Translated test instructions help students better understand what they are expected to do on the test, while glossaries and dictionaries help EL students navigate unfamiliar vocabulary. In other words, language support resources can give EL students a fighting chance. However, it isn’t the only option.
Assessments in their entirety can be translated and adapted into other languages. Since Spanish is the most common first language for ELs in the US, Spanish is the most commonly-translated language for assessments, but there are several assessments currently in use for other languages as well.
It’s usually easier for students to read, write and think in their native language. So why not let them do that?
Particularly for EL students with lower levels of English, assessments that have been translated and adapted into their native language are fairer, giving EL students the greatest chance to do their best. Students can spend more time answering test questions and not just trying to decipher what each question says.
Other stakeholders like that translated and adapted assessments produce results that are more reliable and more representative of EL student ability and achievement.
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