This large-scale study used a survey to collect data on K-12 world language classrooms in Massachusetts public schools, focusing on core instructional practices, curriculum, and assessment. The study resulted in 383 individual teacher completed responses, representing 188 districts, which was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicate…

Increasing numbers of English language learners enrolled in public schools has brought national attention to issues surrounding the education of linguistically diverse students. Teacher education programs have come under scrutiny for not doing an "adequate job of preparing teachers to teach diverse populations" (Hollins & Guzman,…

The 2011 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a joint conference with the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association, focused on trends, innovations, and national programs that are picking up steam as the first decade of the twenty-first century ends. Several innovations have the potential to unify world language…

Accreditation and accountability recently have been prominent in national conversations about the preparation of teachers. Members of our profession have developed standards to which we will hold ourselves as we prepare foreign language and world language (F/WL) teachers for the 21st century. As a participating Specialized Professional Association…

Formative assessment has recently become a focus of renewed research as state and federal policy-makers realize that summative assessments have reached a point of diminishing returns as a tool for increasing student achievement. Consequently, supporters of large-scale testing programs are now beginning to consider the potential of formative…

This publication presents a comprehensive overview of one of the most profound shifts in educational policy and practice that has occurred during the 20th century--the transition from a testing culture to an assessment culture--and discusses its implications for English language learners (ELLs). The document brings together a wide range 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…

An attempt is made is this paper to examine the validity of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale through a comparison of the scaling of speaking tasks and speech performances by the scale and by a Rasch analysis of judgments made by "naive" persons. The results of the multi-faceted Rasch analysis seem…

The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act requires states to report learners' educational gains in terms of level descriptors defined by the National Reporting System (NRS). States may choose their assessment methods. Most use standardized testing. NRS level descriptors for English as a Second Language (ESL) define English language proficiency…

Examines the nature of outcomes-based assessment and reporting systems in language education, noting problems that may arise in their development and implementation by presenting case studies of assessment innovations in the United Kingdom and Australia, which experienced various political, technical, and practical problems. The relationship…

As part of a series of documents on assessment of student learning in various school curriculum areas, this report describes assessment of student learning in the foreign language classroom in South Carolina. The report begins with an overview of current curriculum goals in foreign language education and the status of assessment practices in this…

This training guide is designed to help monolingual English scorers accurately measure the performance of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students on large scale assessment of open-ended mathematics and science performance tests. The guide can also help teachers accurately evaluate classroom work. The guide is arranged in such a way that it can…

These workshop materials, meant to accompany the trainer's manual to "Assessment: A Development Guidebook for Teachers of English-Language Learners," consist of individual sheets suitable for making clear transparencies and paper copies as needed for overhead transparencies, workshop participant handouts, and examples of…

This guidebook is intended to assist the classroom teacher in developing assessments for English language learners (ELLs). More specifically, it will: help the teacher to determine whether a student may be an ELL; measure native-language proficiency or the English language proficiency of an ELL; determine initial instructional placement for an ELL…

Because the current reform movement in education stresses the need for performance-based student assessments, it is imperative to train teachers to conduct the most appropriate and effective performance-based assessments of English language learners (ELLs). Accordingly, the purpose of this trainer's manual is to assist the teacher educator in…