GACE ESOL 619: Assessment

Assessment

The process of gathering and evaluating information about a learner's language skills, knowledge, or performance to guide decisions and improve learning outcomes.

Reliability

The consistency or stability of an assessment's results when administered repeatedly over time or in different contexts.

Validity

The extent to which an assessment measures what it is intended to measure, ensuring that the results are meaningful and accurate.

Content Validity

The degree to which an assessment accurately represents the content it is intended to measure, covering all relevant areas of the subject matter.

Alignment

The process of ensuring that assessments, instructional goals, and learning activities are aligned, meaning they all focus on the same objectives.

Construct Validity

The extent to which an assessment truly measures the theoretical construct or concept it claims to measure, such as language proficiency or math ability.

Construct

A theoretical concept or characteristic that is not directly observable, such as intelligence, language proficiency, or motivation.

Criterion-related Validity

The extent to which an assessment correlates with a relevant criterion, such as another established test or real-world performance.

Criteria

The standards or benchmarks used to evaluate a learner’s performance or achievement in an assessment.

Concurrent Criterion-related Validity

The degree to which an assessment correlates with other established measures of the same construct administered at the same time.

Predictive Criterion-related Validity

The degree to which an assessment can predict future performance or outcomes related to the construct it measures.

Practicality

The ease with which an assessment can be implemented, including factors like time, cost, and resources required.

Individual Literacy Assessments

Assessments designed to evaluate the literacy skills of individual learners, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Group Literacy Assessments

Assessments used to evaluate the literacy skills of groups of learners, often administered to larger populations in schools or districts.

Basic Inventory of Natural Language (BINL)

An assessment tool used to measure the language proficiency of bilingual children, focusing on both their first and second languages.

Language Assessment Scales (LAS)

A set of language proficiency scales used to assess English language learners’ speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Measure the oral proficiency and reading and writing abilities of K-12 students. Measures content such as vocabulary, listening comprehension, and story retelling and are available in both English and Spanish.

Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM) I

An assessment used to measure bilingual children's understanding of syntax and grammatical structures in both their languages. Measures oral proficiency in English and/or Spanish and must be administered individually.

Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM) II

A follow-up assessment to BSM I, used for more advanced measurements of bilingual children's syntactical development.

Idea Proficiency Test (IPT)

A test designed to measure English language proficiency in four areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The oral measure must be administered individually but the reading and writing measures can be administered in small groups.

Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey

A language proficiency assessment used to evaluate the language skills of bilingual individuals, typically in Spanish and English. Individually administered assessment that measures cognitive aspects of language proficiency in the form of vocabulary usage, sytax and reading for understanding.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

A U.S. federal law aimed at ensuring equal access to education, particularly for disadvantaged students.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

A U.S. federal law enacted in 2001 that aimed to improve educational outcomes by increasing standards and accountability for schools.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The 2015 reauthorization of the ESEA, which emphasizes state and local control, aiming to improve educational outcomes and close achievement gaps.

English Language Proficiency (ELP)

The ability of a non-native English speaker to understand, speak, read, and write in English at a level appropriate for academic or social communication.

Reclassification Criteria

The standards or benchmarks that determine when an English language learner (ELL) is proficient enough in English to be reclassified as fluent.

Receptive Language Skills

The ability to understand language when it is spoken or written, such as listening comprehension and reading comprehension.

Productive Language Skills

The ability to produce language, including speaking and writing skills.

Standardized Assessments

Tests that are administered and scored in a consistent, standardized manner, ensuring fairness and comparability across test-takers.

Constructs

The abstract concepts or traits that are being measured, such as language proficiency, intelligence, or motivation.

Large-scale Standardized Tests

High-stakes assessments administered to large groups of students, often used for comparing performance across schools or districts.

Performance-based Assessment

An assessment that requires students to perform tasks or produce work that demonstrates their skills, such as writing an essay or giving a presentation.

Portfolio Assessment

An assessment that collects a learner’s work over time to evaluate progress, skills, and learning achievements.

Diagnostic Assessments

Assessments designed to identify learners’ strengths and weaknesses before instruction begins, helping to guide future learning.

Accessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State (ACCESS)

A state-assessment system for measuring the English proficiency of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools.

WIDA Consortium

A group of states in the U.S. that have partnered to develop English language proficiency standards and assessments for ELLs.

Measure of Developing English Language (MODEL)

An assessment tool that measures the English language proficiency of students who are still developing their English skills.

W-APT

The WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test, used to assess the English language proficiency of incoming students to determine their level of English.

ELPA21

The English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century, a test designed to measure the academic English proficiency of ELLs. Goals are aligned to the English language Proficiency standards developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

Checklists

A list of specific criteria or tasks that an assessor checks off as they observe or assess a learner’s performance.

Rubrics

A set of criteria used to evaluate or grade an assessment or task, often with different levels of performance described for each criterion.

Reflection Logs

Written records in which learners reflect on their learning experiences, often used to assess progress and self-awareness.

Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act

A U.S. law that prohibits discrimination based on disability and ensures that students with disabilities have access to accommodations in education.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

A U.S. federal law that ensures services to children with disabilities, including special education and related services.

Learning Disabilities

Cognitive or neurological conditions that affect a person's ability to learn, process information, or communicate, despite having average or above-average intelligence.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A legally binding document that outlines specific educational goals, accommodations, and services for students with disabilities.

Language Bias

The presence of language-related unfairness or disadvantage in an assessment, particularly against non-native speakers of the test language.

Cultural Bias

The tendency for an assessment to favor one cultural group over others, often leading to inaccurate or unfair results for learners from different cultural backgrounds.

Literal Items

Test questions that assess direct recall or understanding of facts and information, typically found in comprehension assessments.

Inferential Items

Test questions that require students to make inferences or draw conclusions beyond the literal meaning of the text or question.

Criterion-referenced Assessments

Assessments that measure a learner's performance against a set standard or criterion, rather than comparing it to others' performance.

Norm-referenced Assessments

Assessments that compare a learner's performance to the performance of others, typically aiming to rank learners.

Normative Group

A sample of test-takers used to establish the average or typical performance on a norm-referenced assessment.

One-language Approach

A language learning approach that focuses on the development of proficiency in a single language, often the dominant or majority language.

Mixed-language Approach

An approach to language learning that involves the use of multiple languages, either simultaneously or sequentially, in instruction.

English as a Second Language (ESL)

A program or approach for teaching English to non-native speakers, focusing on improving their English language skills.

Bilingual Instructional Model

English learners are placed at the appropriate grade level in classrooms in which most instruction is delivered in the primary language with supplemental instruction in English taking place at a designated time and place during the school day.

Dual Language

An educational program in which students are taught in two languages, often both their native language and a second language like English, with the goal of bilingualism and biliteracy.

WIDA Consortium Standards for Student Achievement

5 content areas (Social and Instructional language, English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies) and 6 English language proficiencey levels (Entering, beginning, developing, expanding, bridging and reaching).