CLAD Assessment for English Learners 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher notices an EL student performs well on oral tasks but struggles with written tests. What does this suggest about assessment design?
- The student has a learning disability
- Written tests alone may underrepresent the student's content knowledge (Correct answer)
- The student needs more grammar instruction
- Oral tasks are not valid measures of academic content
Correct answer: Written tests alone may underrepresent the student's content knowledge
Using only written assessments may not capture what EL students know due to language proficiency barriers rather than content gaps.
Question 2: Which assessment practice best supports ELs during a standardized content test?
- Providing a bilingual glossary of academic terms (Correct answer)
- Allowing a peer to answer questions for the student
- Translating all test questions into the student's home language
- Exempting the student from the assessment entirely
Correct answer: Providing a bilingual glossary of academic terms
A bilingual glossary addresses language barriers while still assessing content knowledge independently.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a home language survey administered when an EL enrolls in school?
- To determine the student's academic grade level
- To identify students who may need English language proficiency assessment (Correct answer)
- To assess the parents' level of English fluency
- To place students in bilingual education programs automatically
Correct answer: To identify students who may need English language proficiency assessment
Home language surveys are the first step in identifying students who may require English language proficiency screening.
Question 4: A CLAD teacher wants to gauge EL students' understanding of a science lesson. Which technique provides the most immediate formative feedback?
- End-of-unit multiple choice test
- Portfolio collected at semester end
- Exit tickets with sentence frames (Correct answer)
- Annual standardized language proficiency test
Correct answer: Exit tickets with sentence frames
Exit tickets with sentence frames give instant formative data while supporting ELs in expressing their understanding.
Question 5: When assessing an EL's writing sample, which factor should a teacher separate from content evaluation?
- Use of topic-relevant vocabulary
- Grammatical errors due to language acquisition stages (Correct answer)
- Organization of ideas
- Inclusion of a thesis statement
Correct answer: Grammatical errors due to language acquisition stages
Grammar errors may reflect normal second language acquisition stages rather than poor content understanding or writing ability.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of a criterion-referenced assessment for ELs?
- Ranking students by English reading level against national norms
- Comparing an EL's score to the class average
- Measuring a student's vocabulary against grade-level standards (Correct answer)
- Determining whether a student scored above the 50th percentile
Correct answer: Measuring a student's vocabulary against grade-level standards
Criterion-referenced assessments measure student performance against defined standards, not against other students.
Question 7: An EL student at the Emerging level takes a science test and scores low. What should the teacher consider before concluding the student lacks science knowledge?
- Whether the student studied hard enough
- Whether linguistic complexity of the test items may have obscured content knowledge (Correct answer)
- Whether the student's parents speak English at home
- Whether the student attended class regularly
Correct answer: Whether linguistic complexity of the test items may have obscured content knowledge
Complex academic language on a test may prevent Emerging ELs from demonstrating their actual science knowledge.
CLAD Assessment for English Learners 2
A teacher notices an EL student performs well on oral tasks but struggles with written tests.
What does this suggest about assessment design?