Assessment Accommodations for English Language

Learners: Implications for Policy-Based Empirical

Research

By: Erin Burns

Who are English Language

Learners?• A student who is learning the English language in

addition to their own native languageo English is not their first languageo Some of these students have recently

immigrated to the U.S.o Others are born here

• These students comprise 4.6 million public school students in the United Stateso The majority are Spanish speakers,

Vietnamese, Hmong, Cantonese and Korean

What is an Accommodation?

• An alteration of curriculum or other materials in the classroomo This is not the same as a modification • A complete change in curriculum or

materials• Some common accommodations may include:

o Extra time on a testo An alteration of the test formato An alteration of a handouto Removing thought to be irrelevant information

on a test

Who Uses these Accommodations?

• Students with IEPs or 504s • ELL students most commonly use test

accommodationso An accommodation made to a standardized

test or assessment in order to fully monitor what they know

• 37 of 40 states allow assessment accommodations for ELL studentso Individual states have different eligibility criteria for who receives

assessment accommodations and who does noto This is a controversial issue

Common Assessment

Accommodations for ELL Students• Test in student’s native language

• Linguistic Modification of Test Itemso Rewording test items to decrease the effect of content vocabulary

confusion

• Extra Time on Assessmentso The most common accommodation

• Glossary and Customized Dictionary

• Oral Administration of Assessmentso Either in English or the student’s native languageo Oral Administration of the test itself or directions

Do these Accommodations Work?

• Tests in student’s native languageo Does it work?

• Research shows validity issues in effective translation from one language to another

• Some information gets lost • This is not an effective accommodation

• Linguistic Modification of Test Itemso Does it work?

• Research shows that this is an effective accommodation• Rewording a few items on an assessment can make a big impact on

a students performance

• Extra Time on Assessmentso Does it work?

• Research is inconclusive on this data due to the difference in proficiency of students

Do these Accommodations Work?

• Glossary and Customized Dictionaryo Does it work?

• Research shows that both ELL students and English Learners performed significantly better when given a brief glossary or dictionary

• Oral Administration of Assessmentso Does it work?

• Research was inconclusive for this accommodation

• Teachers could give unintentional cues about answers through voice rate, body language..etc

What Does this Mean?• These assessment

accommodations are so common and some not effective that:o Students are passed

through without fully understanding the content

o Students are unable to pass the class and move up a grade

o Students become frustrated with learning and drop out of school

Effective Assessment

Accommodations for ELL

Students• All accommodations should be research based• Linguistic Modification of Test Items

o Rewording complex content based words on assessments

• Glossary and Customized Dictionary o Effective accommodation for all learners

• Visualso Giving visuals along with the word is a great way to get

ELL students engaged with the content• Restate the directions in their own words

o An effective way for students to fully understand what is being asked of them on an assessment

Works Cited

Jamal, Carolyn, Huie, and Carol Lord Review of Educational Research, (Spring, 2004) Vol. 74, No. 1 pp. 1-28 Retrieved April 14, 2014 from JSTOR database