Assessment and Instruction for ELLs: Assessment Strategies - The Benson Series, Part V

by Julia Benson, K-12 ELL Teacher

​There is no way around it, English learners must have differentiation in assessment. In their book Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners, Shelley Fairbairn and Stephaney Jones-Vo say that in order to effectively assess ELLs at all proficiency levels, teachers must incorporate differentiated, authentic, and culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments of ELLs into their practice. Teachers must differentiate their curriculum and assessment to provide a program of learning that is targeted to English learners’ language and literacy needs. After you have read through these ideas, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you develop some differentiation strategies for assessment.

General Assignment and Assessment Strategies

Expectations

• Ensure that academic assessment targets the same academic content standards for all students
  • Level 1 group project: pronounce key words with visual accompaniment
  • Level 2 group project: speak a few sentences with visual accompaniment
• Consider students’ language proficiency levels, and differentiate assessments/assignments accordingly
  • Assignment: 5 paragraph compare-contrast essay – level 2 ELL fill out a Venn diagram or T-chart with word or phrase bank and accompanying pictures

Directions

• Ensure that directions are clear; confirm that students understand them
  • Model, provide work examples, have students restate directions, thumbs up if they understand, translate directions if needed
  • This can be very difficult with newcomer students – sometimes you just have to roll with what they can produce – For example, I thought I clearly explained to a student to just write the letter of the answer to multiple choice questions – he thought I meant that he had to copy EVERYTHING!

 
 Scaffolding and Accommodations

• Utilize the same supports used in instruction (pictures, charts, graphs, etc.) when assessing students
• Provide students with as much time as they need to complete assessments (unless the test is one that measures speed, such as a math computation test)
• Employ appropriate language-related accommodations (word-to-word dictionary, directions in native language) for classroom and large-scale assessments, in accordance with students’ English proficiency levels
• For large-scale standardized achievement tests, use only accommodations consistently used in the classroom and approved by the test developers
• Explicitly prepare students with background knowledge and test-taking strategies needed for participating in classroom and large-scale standardized testing

Methods of Assessment

• Encourage students to demonstrate content knowledge, skills, and abilities, regardless of level of language proficiency, using a variety of differentiated performance-based and authentic assessments (technology, demonstrations, dioramas, collages, journals, art projects, maps, models, posters)
• Allow ELLs to exercise personal choice in assignments (when appropriate) and to apply their background knowledge in order to enhance motivation
• If traditional paper and pencil tests must be used with ELLs, focus on essential learning when creating them; create tests that are aligned with content objectives, of reasonable length, and matched to the linguistic levels of students
  • For lower proficiency ELLs, simplify language on an existing test and use icons and pictures
• Use a variety of assessment procedures to obtain an accurate picture of what students know and can do in the content areas

Grading

• Focus error correction on specific, level-appropriate aspects of language
• When grading, avoid comparing students with each other; grade students according to predetermined standards for success that are aligned with students’ language proficiency levels

Rubrics

• Differentiate standards-based scoring rubrics according to students’ language proficiency levels (weight grading to emphasize content understanding more than linguistic perfection at lower levels of proficiency)
• Share differentiated rubrics with students at the time that assignments are given (lower proficiency levels will use simplified rubrics)

Special Services

• Work creatively to include gifted ELLs in gifted and talented programs across proficiency levels
  
• Ensure that appropriate assessment tools and procedures are used to identify ELLs for special education services, if indicated

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​Fairbairn, Shelley and Jones-Vo, Stephany. Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners. Caslon Publishing, 2010, Philadelphia.