This research project addresses the validity of assessments used to measure the performance of English language learners (ELLs), such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002). The goals of the research are to help educators understand and improve ELL performance by investigating the validity of their current…

Reviewed are four tests which classroom teachers can use to assess language performance of learning disabled students, and described are three language programs. (CL)

The workshop paper examines the use of microcomputer packages to analyze spontaneous language samples of children with communication disorders. Advantages of computerized analysis are seen to include time saving, more efficient data management, and increased objectivity. To help consumers determine which programs to buy, four aspects are…

Describes five techniques to be used in the evaluation of writing and as exercises in foreign language teaching: the so-called free response to problems presented, fill-in blanks, construction form, alternative form, and association form. (IFS/WGA)

The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and an expressive language measure were administered to 114 children (aged 24 to 74 months) suspected of developmental difficulties. The DDST did not identify the majority of children who failed the expressive language screening, even after cutoff scores were made more rigorous. (Author/JDD)

This guide is intended to assist individual bilingual vocational training projects improve their approach to program evaluation. The guide presents an overall framework to be used by local project staff and evaluators to establish the scope of evaluation and give direction in meeting local evaluation needs. The guide does not provide a…

The use of an interview to test verbal ability in a second language and to establish a scale of oral proficiency is discussed. Sample questions are included in Spanish. (JB)

Noun and verb comprehension of 11 children with cerebral palsy or other motor impairments was assessed by presenting a linguistic stimulus and determining whether the child watched a video event that matched or did not match the stimulus. Subjects, aged 2-6, watched the match significantly more, especially when dynamic visual stimuli were…

The use of factor analysis in examining the dimensionality of language tests is questioned and found to be problematic because it has a number of weak points which make it possible to manipulate results. Some of these weaknesses occur in the examinee selection sample, test selection, and the methods of extraction and rotation chosen. The use of…

The paper describes the system of rater comments used in an American College Testing (ACT) Program English language test designed for use with Japanese secondary school students learning English as a foreign language. The writing portion of the test consists of two short essays, each scored by two native speakers of North American English, using a…

This article explains characteristics associated with the use and evaluation of criterion-referenced measures by speech language clinicians, in contrast to norm-referenced measures. Guidelines are offered for the evaluation and selection of standardized criterion-referenced measures and for the development and ongoing evaluation of informal…

Assessment activities for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, contributed by classroom teachers, are organized according to the primary or predominant emphasis of the activity. Those in the first part of the book focus on alternative methods of assessment, including portfolios, journals, logs, and conferences. The second part discusses…

To streamline the process of collecting spontaneous language samples, a modified format of the "Multilevel Informal Language Inventory" was administered to 150 public school children, aged four-six. Administration, scoring, and analysis required approximately 35 minutes per child. Scores obtained were used to compute normative data on a…

This discussion of psychoeducational assessment of hearing-impaired students and the influence of language competence focuses on: the nature of the interaction between cognition and language, the nonpragmatic nature of traditional assessments, approaches to reducing intelligence test bias, pragmatic violations in intellectual assessment, and…

This introduction to a clinical forum on children with speech, language, and hearing difficulties focuses on assessment validity. The paper emphasizes that assessment validity depends on the purpose for which the clinician employs the assessment and the inferences the clinician intends to draw, and that assessment interpretation involves degrees…