Evaluate ELL Assessments By These Benchmarks

Finding accurate measures of English language learners' (ELLs) isn't easy; that's why you may be interested in the assessments four consortia produced with federal grant money.

In 2002, the Department of Education provided grant funding to four consortia of states for the purpose of developing reliable and valid English language proficiency (ELP) assessments. Thanks to these groups' efforts, standardized ELP testing has improved significantly under NCLB, according to a University of California, Davis report released in November.

Currently, 25 states are using one of the four consortium tests; before 2001, more than 60 tests were in use around the country, reported the Asian-American Press.

Hallmarks of effective ELP tests, according to the report, include:

• Steps to ensure that the ELP assessment items do not differentially or unfairly perform across the subgroups within the ELL population;
• Multiple criteria for assessing ELL students' English proficiency, particularly with high-stakes decisions such as classification or re-classification of students;
• Field-testing procedures; and
• Regular replenishment of item banks and operational test forms.

Resources: Access the full report, "English Language Proficiency Assessment in the Nation: Current Status and Future Practice," at http://education.ucdavis.edu/research/ELP_Assessment.html.