“Recommendations for Assessing English-Language Learners”
States aren’t providing clear guidance to educators on when, what, and for whom to use test accommodations, according to a study by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The report, last in a three-part series about states’ testing policies for ells, urges states to provide comprehensive guidelines for school districts on how to use accommodations with ELLs. The guidelines should address which accommodations are and are not allowable, and carefully distinguish the use of accommodations for ELLs from those allowable for students with disabilities.
The series provides an overview of states’ policies for ELLs, such as that a dozen states use only students’ scores on an English-language-proficiency test to reclassify students as proficient in English. Eighteen states permit local school districts to determine criteria for reclassifying ELLs as having reached English proficiency.
