In this article, I specify a conceptual framework for test validity research on content assessments taken by English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools in grades K-12. This framework is modeled after one previously delineated by Willingham et al. (1988), which was developed to guide research on students with disabilities. In this framework…

Background Context: In most immigrant-receiving societies, an important question, both for researchers and policy makers, has been the weighing of the relative efficiency of different formulas in the learning of the host language by immigrant students, especially the potential impact of specific services on social integration and the role of…

Washback or backwash, also known as measurement-driven instruction, is a common term in applied linguistics referring to the influence of testing on teaching and learning, which is a prevailing phenomena in education. It is a truism that "what is assessed becomes what is valued, which becomes what is taught." This paper aims to share the…