• Subscribe

    Sign up here for our monthly newsletter.

  • Menu

    RESEARCH

    How assessment supports English learners

    By Elizabeth Foster
    Categories: Data, English learners, Outcomes, Research
    April 2019
    Vol. 40 No. 2
    In 2015, nearly 5 million public school students were identified as English learners, according to the National Center for Education Statistics report, Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2018 (de Brey et al., 2019). To serve these students well, educators need professional learning on a range of teaching and learning strategies. Among the topics where they need support is student assessment. Assessment can provide information about student learning and the effectiveness of classroom strategies, but what are the special considerations when used with English learners? To better understand the research about how schools and systems can support multilingual learners through assessment, we spoke with Margo Gottlieb, an expert in curriculum, instruction, and assessment of language learners and author of more

    Read the remaining content with membership access. Join or log in below to continue.

    Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.

    Log In
       

    Authors

    Elizabeth Foster

    Elizabeth Foster (elizabeth.foster@learningforward.org) is associate director of standards, research, and strategy at Learning Forward. In each issue of The Learning Professional, Foster explores recent research to help practitioners understand the impact of particular professional learning practices on student outcomes.

    LET US HEAR FROM YOU. Do you have recommendations of research you’d like to see us cover? Email me at elizabeth.foster@learningforward.org.

    RESOURCES

    Here are resources that support educator learning about assessment and multilingual learners, with comments from Gottlieb.

    Basterra, R., Trumbull, E., & Solano-Flores, G. (Eds.) (2011). Cultural validity in assessment: Addressing linguistic and cultural diversity. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 8-21.

    • Discussion of the importance of teacher-student interaction and of educators knowing students well as an aspect of assessment.

    Earl, L.M. (2013). Assessment as learning: Using classroom assessment to maximize student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

    • Focused on assessment as a strategy for daily classroom learning as well as student measurement.

    González, N., Moll, L.C., & Amanti, C. (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Hornberger, N.H. (2002). Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. Language Policy, 1(1), 27-51.

    • An examination of the impact policies that support multilingualism have had in South Africa and Bolivia, with implications about education in the United States.

    García, O., Johnson, S.I., & Seltzer, K. (2016).The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.

    • Language practices to draw on students’ bilingualism to support their engagement with complex academic texts and advance social justice.

    Soltero-González, L., Sparrow, W., Butvilofsky, S., Escamilla, K., & Hopewell, S. (2016). Effects of a paired literacy program on emerging bilingual children’s biliteracy outcomes in third grade. Journal of Literacy Research, 48(1), 80-104.

    • This longitudinal study examines whether the implementation of a Spanish-English paired literacy approach provides an academic advantage to emerging bilingual students over a sequential literacy approach.

    References

    de Brey, C., Musu, L., McFarland, J., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., Diliberti, M., Zhang, A. … Wang, X. (2019). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2018 (NCES 2019-038). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH: Author.


    Elizabeth Foster
    Senior Vice President, Research and Strategy | + posts

    Elizabeth Foster is the senior vice president of research and strategy at Learning Forward. She leads the organization’s research efforts for partnerships, programs, and fundraising. Elizabeth co-wrote the Standards for Professional Learning (2022) with Tracy Crow and now facilitates learning sessions about the standards and develops resources that support their use and implementation.


    Categories: Data, English learners, Outcomes, Research

    Search
    The Learning Professional


    Published Date

    CURRENT ISSUE



  • Subscribe

  • Recent Issues

    LEARNING TO PIVOT
    August 2024

    Sometimes new information and situations call for major change. This issue...

    GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
    June 2024

    What does professional learning look like around the world? This issue...

    WHERE TECHNOLOGY CAN TAKE US
    April 2024

    Technology is both a topic and a tool for professional learning. This...

    EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
    February 2024

    How do you know your professional learning is working? This issue digs...

    Skip to content