The Assessment Tools Utilized by Elementary Teachers in Regard to English Language Learners - Research Paper Example

Analysis of the Assessment Tools Utilized by Elementary Teachers in Regard to English Language Learners (ELLs) English Language Learners, or ELLs are implemented in school systems across the United States as a way to help children of diverse ethnic backgrounds, to leave no child behind in terms of education. ELLs is a means used by teachers to assist children who are learning English as his or her second language. Although, ELLs are applied in U.S schools, it has not had guaranteed success and is viewed controversially by Elementary, or secondary teachers alike. The challenge faced by teachers and the government to create the best possible schools for every child is well-known. Since the United States is a country formed by multiple ethnicities and cultural differences, the issue arises of how to best educate children that are not familiar with the English language. Early efforts did not centralize the solution around teaching, but on Americanizing children (Crawford, 2004). Debates about whether this was the best practice incorporated into schools arose due to the fact that researchers are unaware of how best to approach this obstacle. A study in 2001 indicated that ELL students made up 9.7% of the student population, and what is more is that the ELL students are highly likely to drop out or perform poorly, especially on national standardized tests (Crawford, 2004). The solution to Americanizing children altered to focus on teachers teaching the students differently. Afterall, the U.S. Department of Education accounts that the number of ELL students from grades K-12 has increased by 51.3% between 1985 and 1991 (La Celle-Peterson & Rivera, 1994) making it an increased challenge. Over 6.3 million students between the ages of 5-17 reported speaking a language other than English in the home (La Celle-Peterson & Rivera, 1994), thus pressurizing the government and U.S educators to coordinate ELLs in the classroom. Even though the pressure turned from students to teachers, the implementation of ELLs is not working to the standard educators believed it would. The answer to why this is stems from the fact that educators are lacking research, enforcing inappropriate educational policies and are unable to understand ELL students, including their backgrounds (Crawford, 2004). Three language tools that elementary teachers utilize to test ELLs range in various ways when compared historically to today. These tools can be classified into three categories: selected-response assessments, constructed-response assessments and personal-response assessments. These assessments can be applied to students of all ages, which is why they are used by elementary teachers to help establish a child’s specific learning needs or areas of concern. The first one, selected-response, is a tool that includes true-false, matching and multiple-choice assessments (Brown & Hudson, 1998). It includes pieces of information that have been divided and the student must form it back to whole, or information that has possibly been changed in some way or another that may or may not be subtle. It also includes questions that come with an array of answers, but a student must choose the best one. The point of this assessment is for teachers to understand how a child understands the material, and that if he or she comprehends it, then he or she is able to regurgitate it in any way the teacher asks. For example, an elementary school teacher quizzes her students with a math question that states some thing along the lines of: Mrs. Smith’s class has 23 students, including 11 boys. How many girls are there in Mrs. Smith’s class? There are 12 girls in the class. True or False? The student is being asked first, if they understand the question. Secondly, if he or she understands the question, how do they get the answer? Lastly, if they know how to get the answer, they can determine whether or not the affirmed answer is correct or incorrect. For ELL students, they would have a difficult time with the initial understanding of the question, and if he or she cannot understand the question, then they cannot get to the right answer. The second assessment tool frequently used is constructed-response tool. It includes short-answer, fill-in and performance assessments (Brown & Hudson, 1998). These questions applied to classrooms by teachers help them to figure out how successfully the students learn and attain information. It illustrates how well children absorb, memorize and reiterate information they learn. For example, a short-answer question utilized by elementary teachers could be: How many food groups are pictured in the Food Pyramid? These kinds of questions also assess grammar or vocabulary skills, which ELL students often do poorly in because of their lack of English conception. It also shows how an ELL child has trouble memorizing information presented to them because it is in English. The third tool incorporated is personal-response assessment. This includes conference, self- or peer assessments as well as portfolio assessments (Brown & Hudson, 1998). These are utilized by teachers to analyze their students’ opinions and/or level of criticism that he or she uses on portions of information. In other words, a question like: Who was your favorite character and why? in regards to a book read in class leaves plenty of room for a student to express him or herself as much as possible. This does more than just ask a student to restate the information he or she memorized. The child actually has to put more thought into it and explain how they understand the material, and why. They are encouraged to make reference points to the material to back themselves up, which is a measure of understanding, thought and ability to draw significant points together as a means of explaining ones’ best answer. All three typical assessment tools used by elementary teachers come with both positives and negatives. The ones listed thus far have been consistently used in the past as well as currently, although there are alternatives now that more and more educators are implementing in the classroom. Selected-response, constructed-response and personal-response assessments are good in analyzing ELL students’ performance because they test the basic level of comprehension. If an ELL student cannot understand English, he or she will do poorly answering the questions in the forms of the tools above. If an ELL student constantly fails to get a correct answer, it will be evident to the teacher that the student does not first understand the question being asked due to the fact that it is asked in English. However, the downsides of the three most popular assessment tools are that they do not require the students to use a higher-level of thinking and problem-solving, and in the case of ELL students, they do not assess social comprehension of American situations to an immigrant child, or child born in the household of an ethnically diverse family (Brown & Hudson, 1998). But why would the latter be important? Even if the child has a basic understanding of the English language, being able to understand cultural differences represented in questions as seen in the tools listed could be difficult. The assessment tools also fail to separate memorization and comprehension in most instances. Also, ELL children may learn better when different methods are used that the usual tools do not cover. For example, alternative assessment tools like checklists, journals, logs, videotapes, audiotapes, self-evaluation, and teacher observations help fill-in the gaps that the traditional assessment tools leave (Brown & Hudson, 1998). Besides provoking higher level of thought and problem solving skills, these alternative methods include tasks that are worthwhile as instructional activities and utilize real-world simulations or contexts (Brown & Hudson, 1998). They also provide different techniques of learning that ELL students may be able to absorb better. Despite the usage of traditional and alternative assessment tools, the integration of ELLs in schools is not one hundred percent lucrative. From an Elementary, or secondary school teacher’s point of view, ELLs come with multiple obstacles. Obstacles such as resource inequities, inadequate instructional materials, critical shortages of teachers trained to serve ELLs, poorly designed instructional programs, and substandard school facilities (Crawford, 2004). Not only do elementary teachers have to be trained to utilize ELLs but the deficiency of appropriate materials is enough to leave a frustrating wake. It is not only the educators and schools’ fault when it comes to applying ELLs correctly in classrooms. There is instability of ELL students in schools, which threatens accountability since the students attaining ELLs move out of the subgroup, and ELL students in many states are sparsely populated while in others they are frequent (Abdei, 2004). Two elementary school teachers may have to train in ELLs in the same manner, yet ones classroom may have less than 1% of ELL students a year while the other is fastened with over 60%. Not to mention the inadequacy of research done to prove ELLs is worthwhile. The fact is that there is no one right way to educate ELL students, so various approaches need to be pursued like usage of student’s native language, balancing basic and more complex skills, explicit skills instruction, practicing newly acquired skills, giving a community orientation, and many more (Verdugo & Flores, 2008). These assessment practices in terms of ELLs are practical because they can be utilized by teachers no matter if their classroom includes a high percentage of ethnically diverse students or low percentage because it benefits all students. It is authentic in the fact it narrows the way in which teachers can teach ELLs students by making it more specific, even so far as to incorporate the ELL student’s native language. The generality of the ELLs tools used now are problematic because they are not well-defined and proven true. Validity is evident in new assessment propositions because of how detailed they are, creating a personal touch to how teachers can be of more help to the ELL students as well as successfully lead them. The washback effect takes a beneficial turn when these tools are implemented because it helps elementary teachers to better relate to the ELL students, teach them and prepare them for the standardized tests given in schools across the U.S. English Language Learners (ELLs) incorporated by educators to teach students that speak English as a secondary language comes with multiple obstacles and problems, but it is not without its solutions. By utilizing more than just the traditional assessment tools and applying newer methods, elementary teachers have the ability to improve the success rate of ELLs in classrooms. References Abdei, J. (2004, January). The No Child Left Behind Act and English Language Learners: Assessment and Accountability Issues. In Educational Researcher. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from http://edr.sagepub.com/content/33/1/4.short Brown, J. D., & Hudson, T. (1998, December). The Alternatives in Language Assessment. In Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from http://www.jstor.org/pss/3587999 Crawford, J. (2004, September 14). No Child Left Behind: Misguided Approach to School Accountability for English Language Learners. In National Association for Bilingual Education. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from http://users.rcn.com/crawj/langpol/Crawford_NCLB_Misguided_ Approach_for_ELLs.pdf La Celle-Peterson, M. W., & Rivera, C. (1994, April). Is it Real for All Kids? A Framework for Equitable Assessment Policies for English Language Learners. In Harvard Educational Review. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from http://ceee.gwu.edu/Products_ELLs/IsitReal.pdf Verdugo, R. R., & Flores, B. (2007, February). English-Language Learners: Key Issues. In Education and Urban Society. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from http://www.udec.edu.mx/BibliotecaInvestigacion/Documentos/2 009/Marzo/Id%20English- Language%20Learners%20Key%20Issues.pdf Read More