Reading is a complicated cognitive procedure of deciphering symbols to create meaning. It's a complicated relationship that the reader has with the text and is lead by a reader's previous knowledge, experiences, attitude, and culture. Second language (L2) reading comprehension is perhaps a more complicated procedure and there's a need to ensure…

Given the call by Krashen (2012) and others advocating for shorter, easier to digest research papers, we provide a shorter than usual summary of the World Language edTPA via empirical findings from the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity and researchers in the field. We argue in favor of abandoning the World Language edTPA for…

The growing number of children in primary schools in Germany who have German as their second language (L2) has raised questions about the fairness of performance assessment. Fair tests are a prerequisite for distinguishing between L2 learning delay and a specific learning disability. We evaluated five commonly used reading and spelling tests for…

Drawing on Glenn Fulcher's extensive work in performance-based language assessment of speaking, this paper explores the assessment of L2 speaking ability in local language testing contexts. For that purpose, I review Fulcher's influential work that highlights the relationship between the speaking construct, the task, the performance, and the…

Washington is one of 36 states in the country that allows students to earn high school credit based on demonstrating subject area competency instead of completing hours of classroom instruction. Washington law (Revised Code of Washington [RCW] 28A.230.090) delegates to the State Board of Education (SBE) the responsibility of establishing…

Using a contemporary short story by the award-winning German writer Roman Ehrlich as a case study, in this paper we will offer ideas for engaging students at CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for languages) B1+ and B2 level in German in reading as well as encouraging them in creative writing tasks through formative assessment and…

The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State…

This commentary argues that the OET research raises inescapable contradictions in trying to separate "language" from "communication" within a weak performance test and advocates for reconceptualizing the legitimate domain of "language" more widely, reclaiming the full potential of the communicative competence…

While the viva voce (oral) examination has always been used in content-based educational assessment (Latham 1877: 132), the assessment of second language (L2) speaking in performance tests is relatively recent. The impetus for the growth in testing speaking during the 19th and 20th centuries is twofold. Firstly, in educational settings the…

With more constructivist approaches to learning in higher education and more value on teamwork skills, students' oracy (speaking and listening) features more prominently in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The paper reports on a study of two first-year Australian university courses in disciplines with explicit industry orientations and high…

We report on the development and use of an analytical framework designed to articulate the language demands English learners (ELs) encounter on performance assessments such as those used in inquiry-based science classrooms. The Science Assessment Language Demands (SALD) Framework, grounded in functional and interactional views of language and…

Assessing the preparation of preservice candidates for quality teaching, both for mainstream students and for ELs, requires reliable and valid assessments that pay close attention to context, process, and reflection, factors that traditional evaluations of teaching either ignore or undervalue. In this article, the authors focus on one high-stakes…

Using assessment results for 5th and 8th grade English language learner students in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the report finds that the English language domains of reading and writing (as measured by a proficiency assessment) are significant predictors of performance on reading, writing, and mathematics assessments and that the…

During the 2004-05 school year, Parkview Elementary School experienced a dramatic shift from a focus on authentic assessment and responsive, individualized teaching to a one-size-fits-all approach to literacy assessment and instruction. In an effort to boost test scores, the district mandated the use of Open Court Reading, a scripted language arts…

Using assessment results for 5th and 8th grade English language learner students in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the report finds that the English language domains of reading and writing (as measured by a proficiency assessment) are significant predictors of performance on reading, writing, and mathematics assessments and that the…