Providing foundational academic support to Indiana's culturally and linguistically diverse students is a cornerstone of the state's educational goals. Over 140,000 Indiana students speak a language other than English at home, and there are over 295 different languages represented in Indiana schools. Of these, over 93,000 students have been…

As educators can open and close implementational and ideological spaces for bilingualism, they are language policy agents. Concurrently, their language ideologies are also informed and shaped by dominant discourses such as the discourse of accountability and neoliberalism. Inspired by ethnographic studies, this qualitative study explored the…

Team teaching is re-emerging as a relevant research topic in language education due to the complexity and realities of globalization (Williams, Evans, & Metcalf, 2010). This qualitative study examined the characteristics of high-performing teams and their leadership in foreign language programs. Fifty-four college-level teachers, department…

In the US K-12 public school settings, each state's annual English language proficiency (ELP) assessment, as part of an educational accountability system, has tremendous impact on English learner (EL) students' academic paths and success. It is thus critical to establish a robust validation framework and empirical evidence to ensure that states'…

High stakes test-based accountability systems primarily rely on aggregates and derivatives of scores from tests that were originally developed to measure individual student proficiency in subject areas such as math, reading/language arts, and now English language proficiency. Current validity models do not explicitly address this use of aggregate…

Pushback against the perceived federal overreach into educational reform has led to renewed calls for a return to local control of schools. In contrast to this general trend, there has continued to be a strong national role for English learner (EL) accountability policies related to EL identification, monitoring and reclassification processes. In…

This article examines the changes taken place over the decades after a test-based accountability system was in place and proposes an agenda for consequential research of the testing program. The article starts with a review of theories of test-based accountability (Supovitz, Journal of Educational Change 10:211-227, 2009) and a socially grounded,…

We examine how incentives for test prep varied between math and English language arts (ELA) on U.S. state accountability exams. We collected data on exam structure for grade 3 to 8 tests in six states that are the setting for most U.S. research in literatures where accountability matters. We show that math exams typically measured ability more…

This technical assistance paper provides policy and guidance to individuals with test administration responsibilities in adult education programs. Rule 6A-6.014, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), General Requirements for Adult General Education Programs, provides a list of assessments that are approved by the U.S. Department of Education (ED)…

From uneven digital access and growing academic gaps to reports of students missing or disengaged since March 2020, it is evident that English Learners (ELs) have endured some of the pandemic's gravest impacts on students across the United States. But because the pandemic has affected state assessment systems as well as instruction, it is…

The authors illustrate models and procedures that can be applied to calculate overall composite scores in order to identify an indicator of English language proficiency, based on composite scores for English learners with 504 or individualized education plans who are missing one or more domain scores on the Assessing Comprehension and…

This article reports on a study that was carried out to explore the factors that contribute to a negative washback effect on English language teaching (ELT) in secondary schools in Bangladesh. Twelve secondary school teachers were interviewed to understand their perspectives on which factors influenced their pedagogical choices. The interview data…

In Mongolia, teachers' attitudes towards large-scale assessments have been a largely uncovered area. Therefore, this paper focuses on examining the general overview of English language teachers' belief about state-level assessments, and their reflection on teaching practices. Participants of this study were 307 teachers of primary and secondary…

This report features components of Florida's submitted plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act that impact the 290,000 English learners in the state regarding testing, accountability, and stakeholder engagement. Advocates can use this information to engage administrators and policymakers around improving outcomes for English learners and…

For the last two decades, graduation rates have been one of the key metrics used to evaluate school effectiveness under federal law, with the goal of ensuring that all students receive a high-quality education. Researchers have found, however, that policies intended to optimize this accountability measure can have undesirable consequences for…