The new edition of Assessing English Learners in the Content Areas: A Research-into-Practice Guide for Educators seeks to provide guidance to classroom teachers, staff developers, and test-item designers who want to improve ESL assessment outcomes, in the content areas of language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.

 

Significant modifications in education legislation since the publication of the first edition have necessitated this new volume, which includes updated EL demographics as they relate to the Common Core Standards and Every Student Succeeds Act and revised state-by-state test accommodation information. New to this edition is information about the assessment of language arts (in addition to mathematics, science, and social studies). The Second Edition also features new research-based recommendations for large-scale and classroom-based assessments.

 

Like the previous edition, the first two chapters of the book establish the background for the discussion of content-area assessment for ELs, examining several important characteristics of this rapidly growing student population and providing a description of various forms of assessment, including how EL assessment is different from the assessment of English-proficient students.  Important assessment principles that educators should use in their evaluation of tests or other forms of measurement are provided.

 

Other chapters review EL test accommodations throughout the US (because, surprisingly, most teachers do not know what they can and cannot allow) and the research on the effectiveness of these types of accommodations. The book analyses the characteristics of alternative assessment and makes recommendations as to how to increase the validity, reliability, and practicality of alternative assessments. The book proposes fundamental assessment practices to help content area teachers in their evaluation of their students’ progress. Two extensive appendixes outline TESOL Proficiency Standards and academic vocabulary for the content areas.