Under the No Child Left Behind Act, English-language learners must be tested in how well they are acquiring English. If they are enrolled in dual-language programs—which in this country most commonly teach Spanish and English—the federal law doesn’t require schools to measure students’ progress in Spanish as well.
But for those educators who would like to keep track of how their students in dual-language programs are progressing in Spanish, the Center for Applied Linguistics provides a free guide about Spanish-language assessments.
The guide doesn’t recommend one test over another. But it provides a lot of information unlikely to be found in any of the many publications put out by the federal government about the education of English-language learners. One handy chart lists various Spanish-language assessments and their equivalents published by the same companies in English or other languages.