ELL Student Assessment

To start off, I chose to talk to my father and mother about which ESOL tests they had/have administered over the years. It is important to list their credentials and they are as follows: My mother works with special educational needs children including those who have language difficulties. She has worked one-on-one with a young child (six years of age) and she has had various experiences with a multitude of students. My father on the other hand was a teacher who became a principle. He taught in several school districts and became a principal of a school prior to his retirement in 2012. Also, I spoke to one of my primary-school English teachers about this and he gave me an honest answer. My father informed me there is a difference between the …show more content…
Basically, I was informed the the student must be annually tested, but it is up to the teacher to determine how the standards should be taught. Essentially, it is almost a “teach for the test” type of mentality. There are levels a student should obtain based on the grade level the student is in. A popular method of testing is the, “portfolio-type” of testing method for the students, (ColorinColorado, 2017). The utilization of this method allows the students to build upon their knowledge and learn what they needed to work on as well as building confidence when using the material they already learned. Of course, this is an informal method of teaching an ELL student, but usually with state/federal standards (No Child Left Behind, Common-Core, etc), the formal methods of testing ultimately are emphasized for the annual test. With that being stated, it is imperative to note that individual teachers/programs often times have their own formal method(s) of testing. For example, many teachers use oral-presentations, computer programs, etc for grading and assessment the ELL students. Honestly, I had a hard time finding a definite answer for this question. Many districts, schools, programs, even teachers use a variety of methods to assess ELL students; however, the overall consensus I found was that the annual test required by the governments of states (some schools have exceptions) was the most popular type “formal” testing there was. On an individual basis (absent of state requirements), I found that a mix of reading, writing, and oral exams were quite popular for grading ELL students (ColorinColorado, 2017). I am currently not teaching in a school-district, so I had no choice but to offer the insight from several people who have worked in the schools that have engaged with teaching English to non-native