5.+High+Stakes+Tests+-+Best+Practices+for+Preparation+and+Testing

Traditionally high stakes testing is used to make important decisions about a student’s career in school. The scores can be used to determine grade promotions, whether or not the student will graduate, or if a student can be admitted into a specific program (e.g. gifted and talented). The design of these tests is to measure whether or not content and performance standards established by a particular state (in this case Illinois) have been achieved (Education Alliance). Some schools chose not to include ELLs in these tests in the past. That choice has only served to be disadvantageous to the ELL population as a whole because they have been overlooked in program design and instruction. In other words ELL students have not gained any of the educational benefits of initiatives and reforms put into place to raise academic standards and promote student learning (Coltrane). So the problem becomes the invalidity of high stakes testing scores for ELL students. These scores can be considered invalid for a number of reasons. Here are a few of those reasons the material is often biased, the language complexity is often confusing to students, the test is heavily text based, and there are not comparable tests in the native languages of many of our ELL students (Gottlieb, 156). We can make accommodations for our students by extending test time, using small group administration, reading test instructions out loud for math and writing, provide extra breaks, attempt to control the testing environment and using bilingual lists and dictionaries. But the truth is that there are many factors that are out of our control. There is also the issue of what exactly is being tested when ELL students take a high stakes test. These tests were designed to make sure that school curriculum and state standards are matching up by showing annual yearly progress. But in the case of ELL students there are many reasons why they might not have access to the information that is being presented to them on the test. Perhaps the correct information is being presented in the classroom but the student does not have enough English language proficiency to understand the material or if the student does understand he or she may not have the language skills to communicate that. Perhaps the student is not a good test-taker, maybe he or she experiences test anxiety or is easily distracted by the surrounding environment. So what can we do to help our ELL students be prepared to take high stakes tests? We can prepare them by striving to use academic vocabulary in addition to survival vocabulary. We can work to make sure that model the kind of language as well as questions that they will see on these types of tests so that the language and format is more familiar to them and eases test anxiety (Coltrane). We can explicitly teach test taking skills, model how to eliminate choices in a multiple choice test, practice reading the questions before reading a passage so the students know what kind of information they are looking for. We can also make sure that as much as possible we are including the state standards in our everyday curriculum so that the students are being exposed to the information that they will be tested on (Hollingworth). The more we are aware of the issues of standardized testing and how they relate to teaching ELL students, the more information we can have on how to help our students. Take the time to get to know your students, how do they learn best? What makes them stressed? What do they need from you as a teacher? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you become better prepared to assist your students to succeed.

References Coltrane, Bronwyn. “English Language Learners and High-Stakes Test: An Overview of the Issues,” on the Center for Applied Linguistics Website. November 2002. Available at http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0207coltrane.html. (Accessed July 30, 2011). Gottlieb, M. (2006). //Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges From Language Proficiency to Academic Achievement//. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Hite, C. E., & Evans, L. S. (2006). Mainstream First-Grade Teachers' Understanding of Strategies for Accommodating the Needs of English Language Learners. //Teacher Education Quarterly//, 33(2), 89-110. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. Hollingworth, L. (2007). Five Ways to Prepare for Standardized Tests without Sacrificing Best Practice. //Reading Teacher//, 61(4), 339-342. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. Menken, K. (2010). NCLB and English Language Learners: Challenges and Consequences. //Theory Into Practice//, 49(2), 121-128. doi:10.1080/00405841003626619 The Education Alliance at Brown University. “Teaching Diverse Learners: High-Stakes Testing.” http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/assessment/stndrdassess.shtml. (Accessed July 30, 2011).