Download Chapter 3: ESL (ELL) Assessment

Chapter 3: ESL (ELL) Assessment
Assessing Older English Language
Learners
L2 Proficiency
Very limited
Limited
Limited fluency
a)
a)
b)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)
o)
p)
Home language interview
Oral language assessment rubric
Concepts about print test
Anecdotal records
Shared reading of L1 books
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Names test
Self/peer assessment
Reading conferences
Reading logs
interest surveys
Write in L1
Primary language literacy test
Oral language assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Shared reading of L1 books
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Names test
Cloze
Self/peer assessment
Strategy checklist
Graphic organizers
Reading conferences
Reading logs
interest surveys
reading inventories
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)
o)
Write in L1
Oral language assessment
Anecdotal records
Names test
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Dictation
L2 writing
Self/peer assessment
Strategy checklist
Graphic organizers
Reading conferences
Reading logs
interest surveys
reading inventories
L1 Literacy
None
b)
c)
Home language
interview
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
2-6 years
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
7+ years
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
Write in L1
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Shared reading of L1
books
Letter recognition test
Names test
Graphic organizers
a)
b)
Write in L1
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Names test
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Strategy checklist
Graphic organizers
Reading conferences
Reading logs
interest surveys
reading inventories
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)
o)
Write in L1
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Shared reading of L1
books
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Names test
Write in L1
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Shared reading of L1
books
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Names test
Cloze
Dictation
Graphic organizers
Write in L1
Oral language
assessment rubric
Anecdotal records
Names test
Word sorts
Letter recognition test
Quick assessment
Cloze
Dictation
Strategy checklist
Graphic organizers
Reading conferences
Reading logs
interest surveys
reading inventories
Assessing Older English Language
Learners
Self/Peer Assessment
•
One goal of ESL instruction is to help students become critical learners. One method to assist
in this goal is to involve them in their learning process. In this respect they should know the
criteria for quality work. It is essential that they help to develop their learning goals and to
determine whether they achieve their goals. This goal can be achieved by the use of self and
peer assessments.
•
Portfolios are a collection of student work samples taken from their regular classroom
activities. They provide a more comprehensive view of ESL students than many traditional
formal assessments. They can be used in the assessment of writing and math and science and
other content areas. The content of portfolios can be used to assess progress in reading
ability.
•
O’Malley and Valdez Pierce (1996) note that “in order for students to evaluate their own
work or performance, they need to be able to see examples of good work and understand by
what standards it has been judged” (p. 39). Through the process of self-assessment, students
come to see their own strengths and weaknesses. They also can establish their weaknesses
as goals to improve future performance.
Assessing Older ELLs
• Strategy Checklist/Rating Scale
– Use of reading strategies takes place in the learner’s
head so they are not readily visible. Therefore,
teachers have to deduce strategy use by observing
their behavior.
– Strategies include making predicting, visualizing,
making inferences, monitoring comprehension,
clarifying word meaning, questioning, and
summarizing.
– Checklists help document English language learners’
awareness of reading strategies. Checklists should be
adapted for the teacher’s own unique circumstances.
Often Some
times
Put a checkmark next to how often you use these strategies.
BEFORE READING
I skim, looking at and thinking about the pictures.
I read headings and captions.
I read the book’s cover and /or print on the inside flaps.
I make predictions.
DURING READING
I make pictures in my head.
I reread confusing parts and these.
I use pictures to understand confusing parts.
I use the context to figure out unknown words.
I predict and then confirm my predictions.
I ask questions and read to answer my questions.
AFTER READING
I think about the characters, settings, and events, or new.
I discuss or write my reactions.
I reread parts I enjoy.
Never
Assessing Older ELLs
Graphic Organizers
•
•
Graphic organizers are “visual displays used to organize information in a manner
that makes the information easier to understand and learn” (Meyen, Vergason, &
Whelan, 1996, p. 132).
“Graphic organizers can be used to help students comprehend new information,
assimilate new information into what they already know and recall that
information later on when needed” (Reutzel & Cooter, 2011, p. 388).
•
Graphic organizers also serve as an effective informal assessment of reading
comprehension
•
The figure on the lower left is a Venn diagram. Learners compare and contrast two
ideas such as socialism and democracy. On the lower right is a hierarchical
organization chart that is used to help learners understand the structure of a 5paragraph essay.
Assessing Older ELLs
Reading Conferences
•
The primary goal of a reading conference is to monitor, encourage, and guide an individual
student's progress.
•
During the reading conference the teacher should take careful notes about what the student
is reading and any suggestions for further reading. Occasionally, the teacher may ask the
student to read aloud in order to evaluate her performance. This will suggest whether or not
the reading material is appropriate and help to guide the student's progress.
•
Two different systems work effectively: 1) the regularly scheduled conference, and 2) the
teacher-initiated conference based on student progress. In the first case, the teacher
publishes a regular conference schedule.
•
The second approach is for the teacher to monitor his conference log and call on students
when needed. There is no regular schedule. The limitation of this approach is that some
students may be missed if the conference log is not regularly monitored and maintained.
•
Accurate and careful note taking by the teacher is the most important aspect of conferencing.
In order to maximize conference sessions, one may opt to use a standard information form
containing basic questions and observational categories. A typical form is shown below.
Assessment and Skills
Instruction
• Many teachers are convinced that they
themselves should systematically teach
the skills students need to learn. In this
respect, conferences are important as is
the important assessment information
obtained from the students' writing
Students' Writing
• Students' writing should be viewed as a source of vital
skills information. Whole-language teachers scrutinize
their students' independent writing carefully.
• They note students' invented spellings. In those cases
in which they see consistent patterns, they use the
information to form instructional groups.
• For instance, one teacher noted that a great many of
her students were having trouble spelling words
ending with "le" as in tumble, and trouble. She called
together the group of six ESL students who were
having the difficulty and taught them the skill.
Journals
• Students are also asked to make daily journal entries.
Whole language teachers ask their students regardless of
their backgrounds to maintain such journals.
• Often, intermediate-age ESL students begin making entries
into their journals that are pictorial only. We have also seen
students writing in their own languages in their journals.
• An exciting development in some students' writing is that
there occurs a stage when both English and the first
language are written.
• This provides evidence that the student is learning to read
and write English.
• Whole language teachers meet often with individual
students and usually refer to these sessions as conferences.
Reading Logs
• Reading logs keep track of the numbers and types of books read over a
longer period of time such as a term.
• They provide supplemental documentation of students’ reading practices.
They note that reading logs are an effective way to keep track of ESL
students’ reading habits.
• Having students record their own reading is a straightforward way to
manage the challenge of record keeping. Students list books read during
silent reading on a record sheet.
• They enter information about the date, title, author, genre, pages read
and their general impression of the book. It is also helpful to have them
rate the challenge level of each book. That is, whether they identify their
chosen book as “challenging,” “easy,” or “just right”. This information may
give teachers a sense of what kinds of books the learner finds too difficult.
Reading Logs
•
These logs provide the student’s perspective. Law and Eckes (1995) also
note that “this list provides an easy reference for you, for readers and for
parents” and “It gives the student a sense of accomplishment, and parents
and other stakeholders a clear representation of what the student is
accomplishing” (p. 169).
•
Reading logs provide information about the student’s breadth of reading and
interests. They are also “one way to hold students accountable for their
reading…” (O’Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996, 111).
•
The teacher can use information provided in the logs to give feedback about
student progress or suggest other books that might interest them.
•
Students can also use the logs to graph and keep track of the number of
pages, books or types of genres read over a period (O’Malley & Valdez
Pierce, 1996).
Sample Reading Log Format
Date
Title
Author
Genre
Reaction
Pages
Read
Level
Interest Surveys
• Interest and motivation are significant
features in a student’s potential for being
able to read and comprehend texts.
• Unfortunately, interests are often not an
area that teachers often explore or utilize
with their students (Gunderson, 1995).
Interest Surveys
• The group oral interest session is quite open and flexible and the
teacher can take opportunities to explore different areas of interest
and students’ reading backgrounds.
• The teacher talks about his own reading interests to the groups and
then asks individuals in the group for their interests.
• While the students respond the teacher takes notes and records
their different responses. An overall response record can be used to
select reading materials and to form interest groups for instruction.
• The approach may be difficult, however, in a large class and so the
teacher may opt for a written interest survey. The written survey is
as good as the teacher’s knowledge of what interests students.