What Teachers Should Know about PreK-12 ELL Assessment

Poster session

Teachers find it difficult to keep up-to-date with the rapid changes in PreK-12 ELL assessment tied to district improvement plans. The assessment jargon alone can be frustratingly confusing. ESOL teachers are commonly charged with tasks that challenge their professional comfort zone: selecting assessments, conducting language proficiency tests, documenting student achievement, and managing assessment data.

The objective of this session is to help alleviate teachers’ discomfort with PreK-12 ELL assessment by providing a clearly presented overview of the entire process as well as its key components. The presentation serves as a refresher in assessment terms and processes and an update on widely employed assessment protocols and tools in US public schools. The presenter serves as a tour guide to the entire process, answers specific questions related to each step of the process, points to additional resources available to teachers and specialist, and offers practical, ready-to-go tools to attendees. Attendees receive a print copy of an up-to-the-minute instructional (non-commercial) guide to assessment with PreK-12 ELLs and a classroom poster on standards-based formative assessment with ELLs for handy reference.

The research-based practices incorporated in this presentation are in line with the federal assessment mandates of No Child Left Behind (2001), the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (Gersten et al., 2007), the synthesis on language and literacy assessment of language-minority children and youth (August and Shanahan, 2006), and the works of leading practitioners in the PreK-12 assessment field (Gottlieb, Katz, Ernst-Slavit, 2009; Gottlieb, 2006).

What Does it Take to Improve District Outcomes for ELLs?

Poster session

This exhibit outlines the elements that need to be in place for districts to make significant gains in the linguistic and academic outcomes of English language learners. The presenter shares a comprehensive research-based plan for district improvement.

60-Second Language Lessons in Academic English

Practice oriented session, Conference Center 112-B

The session has four goals: (1) to discuss a framework for developing academic language, (2) to review instructional moves that are effective for getting students to actively engage in practicing academic language in the classroom, (3) to introduce 60-second academic language lessons that can be used in any content classroom, (4) to coach attendees while they try out several of these lessons in small groups.

Best practices in PreK-12 ELL assessment

The presenter serves as a tour guide to the entire process of PreK-12 ELL assessment, highlights new developments, introduces updates and new protocols that are becoming standard in many US public schools. She answers specific questions related to each step of the process, points to additional resources available to teachers and specialist, and offers practical, ready-to-go tools. Attendees receive a print copy of an up-to-the-minute instructional guide to assessment with PreK-12 ELLs.

Assessing lexical richness in spontaneous speech data

Spontaneous speech data reflect the lexical resources available to language learners; these data can provide a comprehensive measure of vocabulary skills. Assessing spontaneous speech data for lexical richness has been particularly problematic. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various measures for the assessment of lexical richness. Although a few measures have been widely used to index lexical richness, the validity and reliability of these measures for particular purposes have been in dispute. In addition, software exist for the analysis of various components of lexical richness; however, the measurements obtained by different software are difficult to compare given the technicalities involved in sampling, data cleaning, and data preparation for analysis. Therefore, the various measures of lexical richness are specific to the application that calculates them. This paper elaborates a system suggested by Read (2000) for understanding the components of lexical richness as lexical variation, sophistication, density, and appropriateness. I discuss the measurements available to assess these components detailing the sensitivity inherent in each of the measures. To explore the relatedness of various sub-measures of lexical richness, I use corpus data from transcripts of extensive spontaneous speech samples from interviews with native speakers of English and adult-onset learners of English. I make recommendations for improving the validity, reliability, and ease of assessment of lexical richness in adult speech samples. The goal of the paper is to serve as a guide for readers who interpret lexical richness measures and for researcher who employ these measures to index the vocabulary attainment of language learners.

Academic language in an instant in content classes

Content teachers often complain about the class participation and writing skills of nonnative speaker students, but feel powerless to develop their students’ English language skills. The session demonstrates an intervention teachers can employ to contribute to the academic language development of their students in every content class. The presenter recaps what is involved in developing academic English and shares instructional moves that get students practicing academic English routinely throughout the day. The lessons are instant activities that fit a stack of cards.

A Quick Guide to Assessment with PreK-12 English Language Learners

The presentation provides ESOL teachers a guide to the complex maze of assessment with English language learners in U.S. public schools. Attendees receive a clearly outlined overview of what is most helpful to know along with a selection of ready-to-use, practical tools. Bring your specific ELL assessment questions.

How are districts narrowing the gap?

Many districts around the country have managed to significantly narrow the academic achievement gap for English language learners. The presenter will discuss the common programatic characteristics of districts where English language learners have shown dramatic improvement both in their progress toward English language proficiency and in their academic achievement. Learn what it takes to succeed with ELLs as a whole district.

Supporting At-Risk Learners in Rural Districts Through University-District Partnership

Co-presenter Al Cade

To meet the needs of students at-risk of educational failure, seven rural districts are collaborating with their regional state university to improve academic achievement, deliver effective forms of in-service professional development, increase the number of highly qualified teachers for English language learners, and introduce high standards for academic language proficiency.

Authentic professional learning for in-service teachers with open access media

This session will give a quick tour of free public access teacher development materials that have been published electronically through federal, state, and foundation grants which were created to improve the instruction of English language learners in U.S. schools. Materials include recorded workshops and coaching sessions, archived webinars, webcasts, and video-enhanced practice guides. Attendees will receive a directory to the open access materials with explanations of the formats and abstracts of the available content. In addition, the presenter will share a model for authentic professional learning (Webster-Wright, 2009) that can serve as a guide for incorporating these materials into in-service teachers' professional development. The handout suggests best ways to use the materials for teachers' professional learning teams, subject-area networking, collaborative planning time, and in-house mini-courses.

Getting to Know Your Learners During Intake Assessment

Co-presenting with Jeri Ann Goswick

ELLs are more likely to succeed when their teachers make an effort to understand their personal and academic background, assess their potential strengths and weaknesses, and recognize early indicators of academic and language difficulties. Although this effort includes the analysis of the scores of baseline English language proficiency testing (W-APT), it is much broader in its scope. We discuss a protocol that helps teachers collect and organize information about new learners, which is of vital importance for their eventual second language attainment and academic success.

Standards-Based Assessment in the Multilevel Classroom

English language learners do not only need to learn content, but also the language necessary to demonstrate competence with the content. Commonly used assessments often fail to show what ELLs know. The session explores how to design assessments that are standards-based and appropriate for ELLs at different levels of proficiency.

From 21st Century Tools to Authentic Professional Learning: Developing Academic Language in Every Classroom

This presentation gives a guide of innovative teacher development materials that disseminate best practices in teaching academic language across the content areas in K-12. The session has four goals: (1) to review the qualities of authentic professional learning, (2) to discuss a framework for developing academic language, (3) to acquaint educators with high-quality, open-access teacher development materials in new formats (webinars, webcasts, video-enhanced practice guides), (4) to share best ways to incorporate these into teacher professional development.

Achieving academic success with English language learners

The presentation will introduce educators who are new to teaching English language learners to the fundamentals of providing students with effective instruction in academic language and literacy within the mainstream curriculum. Participants will explore the diverse needs of language minority students and learn their legal obligations to provide meaningful access to the grade-level general curriculum. The presentation will equip participants with key principles of language learning, an outline of research-based best practices, and quick strategies they can implement immediately in their instruction.

What brain-based research tells us about second language learning

The most productive and consequential body of research in bilingualism and second language acquisition has been neurolinguistics. This session will (1) introduce participants to the fundamentals of these studies, (2) summarize key findings in understandable terms, and (3) discern pedagogical implications for second language learning.

Connecting theory, empirical research, and practice in second language education

The presentation will outline connections between current second language acquisition theory, educational research on K-12 English language learners, and best practices for facilitating English language learning in school settings. The goal of the presentation is to give participants a framework of understanding when considering potential interventions for language minority students.

The basics of helping English learners achieve their academic potential

The presentation will introduce educators who are new to teaching English language learners to the fundamentals of providing students with effective instruction in academic language and literacy within the mainstream curriculum. Participants will explore the diverse needs of language minority students and learn their legal obligations to provide meaningful access to the grade-level general curriculum. The presentation will equip partcipants with key principles of language learning, an outline of research-based best practices, and quick strategies they can implement immediately in their instruction.

Moving forward with the PreK-12 English language proficiency standards

Under federal mandate, considerable effort has been devoted to developing and revising English language proficiency (ELP) standards for PreK-12; however, the actual use of the ELP standards for instruction and assessment is just evolving. The presenter will compare the features and implementation of three pertinent PreK-12 ELP standards (TESOL, 2006; Missouri Proposed GLEs, 2007; the revised WIDA, 2007) and discuss the potential outcomes of the differences for the education of English language learners.

World class professional development for every teacher

Access to professional development materials by leading researchers in the field of TESOL and educational linguistics has never been as easy and exciting as it is today. This presentation aims at giving a tour of bringing world-class professional development to teachers of English language learners, whether they are in a metropolitan or rural area. The speaker will focus on three main topics: (1) a review of the qualities of authentic professional learning, (2) free public-access teacher development materials in new formats (webinars, webcasts, wikis, video-enhanced practice guides, iTunesU), (3) best ways to incorporate these into teacher professional development.

Late-emerging reading difficulties

A significant number of children start to show signs of reading difficulties after Grade 3. This workshop will take a closer look at this group to examine the nature of the difficulties. Participants will learn strategies to improve word reading, reading comprehension, and vocabulary in order to alleviate late-emerging reading skill deficits. The session will specifically address the needs of English language learners.

English language learners in the mainstream classroom: Teaching with language objectives

The first step to differentiating instruction for English language learners (ELLs) in content classes involves identifying language objectives that directly serve the lesson’s content objectives. This workshop will help participants develop language objectives that (1) directly support content objectives, (2) benefit all learners, and (3) specifically facilitate the second language acquisition of ELLs.

Help! My students don't speak English: Working with language minority students

What should you do when some of your students speak little or no English at all? What if they speak some, but are not literate on the grade level? What are your responsibilities as a teacher and how can you meet them? What are the best classroom practices for developing your students’ English proficiency while at the same time progressing successfully with a demanding content curriculum? How can you help your English language learners thrive in a learning environment that is beneficial for all of your students? Bring your own pressing questions.

Current research and best practices for accommodating English language learners in the mainstream classroom

The session summarized the most relevant recent findings of second language acquisition research, including the Report on the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Current best practices of accommodating English language learners in mainstream classes were reviewed in terms of how they incorporate the necessary and beneficial conditions of second language acquisition. The presenter discussed what the National Literacy Panels’s findings might mean for shaping our best practices.

Age of acquisition and second language lexical proficiency

This paper reports on two studies that investigated the ultimate attainment of second language (L2) learners in the lexical domain. The first study examined whether highly proficient adult-onset L2 learners reach native level receptive vocabulary. The second study evaluated the function of age of onset and L2 receptive vocabulary.

Age effects in second language acquisition: Implications for educators

This session presented a selective review of literature on age effects in second language (L2) acquisition with a special emphasis on the differential outcomes in the various language domains. Although research in the past 20 years demonstrated a serious disadvantage for adult-onset second language learners with little hope of nativelike eventual attainment in phonology and morphosyntax, recent neurolinguistic studies have introduced the idea that nativelike proficiency may be a very real possibility in the lexicosemantic domain even for late-onset learners. The presenter discussed how educators can make the most of these research findings by setting appropriate learning goals and objectives.

Predicting text difficulty for second language learners

In this workshop, participants engaged in activities that brought into focus the principles behind effective text-reader matching in the ESL context. Participants learned about the factors that comprise text difficulty for ESL learners by taking part in a mini reading research session. The presenter reviewed current research on readability and lexical coverage, discussed the principles behind various readability formulas, and demonstrated several research-based freeware tools that make it easier for teachers to facilitate optimal learner progress in second language reading. The content was designed primarily to serve the needs of secondary, college, and adult ESL teachers.

Project SPEAK: Making a difference for at-risk learners

Co-presented with Al Cade and Peggy Day

Project S.P.E.A.K. is a collaboration between Missouri Southern State University and seven high-need school districts with a significant number of migrant and immigrant students at risk for educational failure. The goal of the five-year federal grant is to develop highly-qualified teachers and improve the quality of instruction available to English language learners. The presenters will share the needs assessment, logistics, and challenges involved in building a successful partnership with districts. They will also discuss the evidence of outcomes for the Teacher Education department and its partners.

Getting started with English language learners: From intake assessment to whole class profile

Co-presented with Jeri Ann Goswick

The workshop had the following objectives:
(1) take inventory of the factors that matter for the language acquisition and academic success of English language learners.
(2) recognize potential strengths and weaknesses of students by analyzing intake assessment profiles.
(3) organize information into a whole class profile.
(4) use the whole class profile to plan differentiated instruction and effective academic approaches for ELLs.

Making a difference for at-risk learners through university-district partnership

Co-presenting with Al Cade and Peggy Day

Project S.P.E.A.K. is an example of successful university-school district partnerships to make a difference for at-risk learners. This team of administrators and educators has worked collaboratively to develop highly qualified teachers for ELLs and offer professional development to involve every teacher in the education of language-minority children.