CLAD Assessment for English Learners 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A newly arrived EL student with no prior formal schooling is assessed. Which consideration is most critical when interpreting results?
- The student's age relative to grade-level peers
- Limited literacy in any language affecting performance across all assessments (Correct answer)
- Whether the student's parents completed high school
- The student's country of origin's curriculum standards
Correct answer: Limited literacy in any language affecting performance across all assessments
Students with limited or interrupted formal education (SIFE) may show low performance due to lack of schooling rather than cognitive ability.
Question 2: Which type of validity evidence is most important when an EL assessment is used to make reclassification decisions?
- Face validity
- Consequential validity (Correct answer)
- Predictive validity
- Content validity
Correct answer: Consequential validity
Consequential validity examines whether the intended and unintended consequences of an assessment decision are appropriate and equitable.
Question 3: An EL student's reading score drops significantly after reclassification. What does this most likely indicate about the reclassification decision?
- The student is not motivated after reclassification
- The student was reclassified prematurely before achieving true academic proficiency (Correct answer)
- Reading tests are inherently biased against former ELs
- The student's home language is interfering more after reclassification
Correct answer: The student was reclassified prematurely before achieving true academic proficiency
A drop in performance after reclassification often indicates the student had conversational fluency but lacked the academic language proficiency needed to succeed without EL support.
Question 4: Which assessment design feature ensures that an EL test is linguistically appropriate for the proficiency level being measured?
- Including grade-level vocabulary in all items
- Calibrating language complexity to match the target proficiency level descriptor (Correct answer)
- Using only short answer questions to reduce reading demands
- Limiting assessments to listening and speaking domains only
Correct answer: Calibrating language complexity to match the target proficiency level descriptor
Matching item language complexity to proficiency level descriptors ensures items measure language development rather than exceeding or undershooting the target level.
Question 5: What does 'triangulation' mean in the context of EL assessment?
- Using three different languages in one assessment
- Gathering data from multiple sources to confirm findings about student proficiency (Correct answer)
- Comparing an EL's score to three different norm groups
- Administering the same test three times to ensure reliability
Correct answer: Gathering data from multiple sources to confirm findings about student proficiency
Triangulation involves using multiple data sources (tests, observations, work samples) to build a more accurate and reliable picture of student proficiency.
Question 6: A school uses a student's ELPAC Oral Language score of 4 to determine reclassification eligibility. Which concern about this practice is most valid?
- Oral language develops too quickly to be assessed accurately
- A single domain score may not represent overall English proficiency needed for academic success (Correct answer)
- Oral language tests are not reliable for students over age 10
- Level 4 is too low a threshold for reclassification
Correct answer: A single domain score may not represent overall English proficiency needed for academic success
Reclassification should consider performance across all language domains, not just oral language, to ensure the student is truly ready to exit EL services.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes 'dynamic assessment' as used with EL students?
- Assessment that changes format each year to reduce test-taking anxiety
- An interactive assessment approach that includes mediation to observe a student's learning potential (Correct answer)
- A test that adapts item difficulty based on prior responses
- Assessment conducted during physical activity or movement-based tasks
Correct answer: An interactive assessment approach that includes mediation to observe a student's learning potential
Dynamic assessment incorporates examiner-student interaction and scaffolding to explore not only what students know but their capacity to learn with support.
CLAD Assessment for English Learners 4
A newly arrived EL student with no prior formal schooling is assessed.
Which consideration is most critical when interpreting results?