How+can+we+make assessment tests+fair?

Research Question: How can we make standardized tests fair for ESL and ELL students? Author: Emily Markey

__APA Citation:__ Young, J. W., Cho, Y., Ling, G., Cline, F., Steinberg, J., & Stone, E. (2008). EBSCOhost: Validity and Fairness of State Standards-Based Assessments for English Lang... //EBSCO HOST//. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=0fe99674-f4e0-4f07-89b3-b741f80ffe9d%40sessionmgr111&vid=15&hid=107
 * TESTING VALIDITY**

__Summary:__ The article discusses how English Language Learners (ELL) are growing in population in the United States. The students are still forced to take standardized tests and there are questions over the fairness and even validity of such tests when the students are not proficient in English. There are significant achievement gaps between ELL students and non-ELL students. According to the article, although states have guidelines for testing accommodations, they do not have a sound research basis. Furthermore, "...because most of the recommended accommodations for ELLs were originally derived from accommodations for students with disabilities, their relevance to the educational needs of ELLs is highly questionable" (Young 172). The article stresses the importance of investigating whether the assessments that states use to meet No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements are fair and valid for ELL students. The information gained is to be used to develop testing processes.

__Reaction:__ I agreed with the ideas presented in the article that ELL students are not given fair assessments because it is not their first language. The fact that the accommodations came from the accommodations for students with disabilities astounded me and made me question whether or not it is morally right to just clump the students who are disadvantaged, whether it be by a language barrier or disabilities, together. More studies must be done in order to raise awareness that the tests are invalid and unfair and to create a way to edit the testing methods. Once the information is gained and experts are able to assess the data, they will be able to determine what exactly is the best way to test students who are not proficient in English.

__APA Citation__: Newsweek Magazine. (1991). Classrooms of Babel. // The Daily Beast //. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1991/02/10/classrooms-of-babel.html __ Summary: __ The article begins by discussing the incredible numbers of people who have immigrated to America, and by a result, the number of students who do not speak English as their primary language. Around 2 million students grades kindergarten through twelfth have limited proficiency in English. The article then discusses how the children are being serviced, mainly with some bilingual classrooms. However, " Proponents say that even with bilingual education it takes between four and seven years for a non-native to reach national norms on standardized tests of most subject material" (Newsweek). Many schools cannot even hire bilingual teachers unless they have a population of 20 or more students who speak the same language in the same grade. Some schools only have their students spend time in English Second Language (ESL) classrooms while other schools believe in "total immersion" which simply means leaving the children in their regular classrooms to sink or swim. There is another method called "two-way immersion" where classes are taught in two languages so that the English-speaking children will learn the foreign tongue and the immigrants will be able to learn English.
 * Classroom Babel**

__ Reaction: __ I was surprised to realize how many students in America have limited proficiency in English. The fact that it takes between four and seven years to reach national norms on standardized tests is also astounding. There are not enough bilingual teachers in my opinion, and even those that are do not speak enough varieties of languages to service all of the students. Two-way immersion classes seem interesting and I would be curious to find out how well the method works in educating both students who are not proficient in English, and those who are.

__APA Citation:__ Jost, K. (2009, December 11). Bilingal Education vs English Immersion : Which is Better for Students of Limited English?. CQ Researcher Online. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from [|http://0-library.cqpress.com.helin.uri.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2009121100&type=hitlist&num=0#NOTE] [6]
 * Bilingual**

__Summary:__ The article discusses the difficulties that ELL students face in school and how they are not given the proper accommodations that would allow them to work at their full potential. There was a specific example of a girl named Miriam who had two years of bilingual schooling, but then was forced into an all-English classroom. Many voters did not favor bilingual education in a 2000 ballot and elected to not increase such programs. When asked, a bilingual teacher in Mansfield, Texas said, " We don't do kids any favor by shoving them into English as fast as we can,” says Butler, a teacher with more than a quarter-century of experience. “'The research shows very clearly that the longer we can give them support in their language, the better they're going to do not just in elementary school but in secondary school as well'” (Jost). According to studies, the gap between English-proficient students and students who are not is narrower between dual-language students than those using the ESL approach. According to the article, "Native English speakers have average scores on standardized tests around the 50th percentile, Collier and Thomas say, while English learners average around the 10th to 12th percentile" (Jost). The difference in the statistics is staggering and officials need to put more of an effort into closing the gap.

__Reaction:__ I was frustrated to hear that voters did not vote in favor of bilingual education. The evidence presented in the article makes me believe that the dual-language approach is much more beneficial to the students. The achievement gap is narrowed between those proficient in English and those who are not, and the students will therefore score higher on the standardized tests. The difference in test scores between native English speakers and English learners astounded me. I knew that there is obviously a difference, but I was not aware of just how large the difference actually is.

__APA Citation:__ Merrow, J. (2007, December 5). EBSCOhost: Learning Without Loopholes. //EBSCO HOST//. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=acef530a-87cb-4394-ad68-d713a028e8f0%40sessionmgr112&vid=22&hid=107
 * Learning Without Loopholes**

__Summary:__ The author is expressing his own ideas on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act throughout the editorial. Merrow believes that there are too many loopholes in the idea and that too many schools are able to slip by and not be held accountable for students. He also discusses how subgroups within schools, such as students with disabilities and English Language Learners, are too large and the schools are not responsible for the students. Because the schools are, in his opinion, not held accountable for the students, they do not need to report out on how large the achievement gap actually is. Merrow believes that the loopholes in NCLB need to be fixed before reauthorizing the act.

__Reaction:__ I did not particularly care for Merrow's opinion at all.If schools were just trying to not be held accountable, it would only be because the schools were scared of the penalties for not being proficient. Schools are so desperate to not be deemed "failures" that they will do almost anything to make their scores perfect. The article inspired me to voice my own personal opinion that you cannot judge a school's performance on standardized tests because it is not fair to the teachers who must teach to the test, nor the students who are pressured to be excellent. A student who is not proficient in English cannot be expected to represent his or her teachers on the same test that is given to a student who has been raised speaking only English.

Overall Reaction to Your Research
My group was working on the question "How can we make schools great for everyone?" which was based off of the idea from the Rhode Island Strategic Plan that all schools need to be accelerated towards greatness. My research taught me how ESL and ELL students are not given the opportunities to make their schooling great. The standardized tests are not fair for them if they are having trouble overcoming language and cultural barriers. To sum up what I've learned, I would say that I have really come to see just how much of a disadvantage ESL and ELL students are at when it comes to such tests. The tests are neither fair nor valid and do not accurately reflect what the student's knowledge might be.

Relevance in Rhode Island Schools
//How does what you learned in your research inform efforts to reform schools in Rhode Island?// The Rhode Island Strategic Plan talks about accelerating all schools to greatness and closing the large achievement gaps between higher-performing and lower-performing students. Those students who are not proficient in English must have a more fair and valid way to be assessed. If the students were tested in a manner where they would not have to struggle over cultural and language barriers, then the students would be able to accurately represent what they know and the achievement gaps would be greatly reduced.