In spite of new methodologies in foreign language instruction, much testing is still of the traditional type. Paper and pencil tests are given, testing in exactly the same way the teachers themselves were tested. This article suggests 25 points for language teachers on all levels. (Author/PJM)

This guide has the broad purpose of improving large-scale academic assessments for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. It was written because large-scale assessments are studded with problems that affect not only how equitable the achievement of LEP students can be measured, but also how effectively LEP students' mastery of content is…

Criterion-referenced testing was used to complement norm-referenced procedures in a revision of a university's English-as-a-Second-Language placement test for reading. Test validation results indicated that the revised test better matched the university's program and included more items related to the content and skills that students were…

To date, little work has been done to ensure limited English proficient (LEP) students are accurately assessed on a large scale. The purpose of this guide is to help scorers in high volume situations to be able to effectively evaluate the open-ended responses of this population. Section one of this guide presents a brief overview of the State…

This paper aims to provide practical advice for creating a placement test for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) or English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) instruction. Three forms of concrete assistance are provided: a detailed literature review; detailed steps focusing on the creation of placement tests; and a set of recommendations focusing on…

This study shows the relationship between English language proficiency and achievement. A consistent pattern is demonstrated that the English proficiency level of English as a second language (ESL) students can predict student performance on state measures --the high stakes Texas Educational Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). TAAS is a…

This paper reports a second-cycle validation study of the test of English at Matriculation (TEAM) following revisions made to the test in 1993. Candidates' scores from four academic sessions (1993-1997) were used to assess the relationship between the performance at the beginning of their degree course and their eventual academic outcome. Results…