The number of public school students who are English learners (ELs) has been increasing steadily in the United States. According to a report by Snyder, de Brey, and Dillow (2016), in the 2014-2015 school year, nearly 4.6 million students enrolled in Kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) in U.S. schools were English learners, representing…

The Victorian (Australia) assessment approach of developing national subject profiles has potential for language assessment. Within each language area, levels of development would be identified and defined by observable language behavior, which could then be tested by a variety of test types. Assessment would be done by teachers in schools using…

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…

The educational advantages of open-book testing are explored, considering the changes in teaching method that are necessary for open-book testing to be successful. How open-book testing should work is illustrated through the example of tests for Spanish-language classes. (SLD)

Discusses the utility of the German Speaking Test (GST) as a general test of German foreign-language proficiency, examining whether it can be used effectively in classroom and institutional foreign-language settings and how proficiency ratings based on the GST relate to examinees' real-world German communicative abilities. Caveats regarding the…

High stakes assessment involves testing students for purposes such as grade level retention or advancement, high school graduation, selection for special programs or services, or for other "high stakes" consequences. Issues surrounding the high stakes assessment of English language learners (ELLs) were the focus of an August 1997 invitational…