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Katie Marple

Rachel Sanchez

English 201

15 November 2015

CFP for the Journal of Curriculum and Instruction

ELL Students and Standardized Testing: an Unrealistic Expectation

For many students, when the word standardized test is brought up it instantly

brings back the feeling of dread experienced in elementary and high school, as the test

inched closer. Yet, when it finally came it was over with quickly and relatively painlessly

and most students never gave it a second thought because it didnt affect them.

Unfortunately, not all students carry this luxury. Growing up, these tests always raised

some question of whether or not a test score was the best way to determine a students

education, but even with the most challenging tests like the SAT, with a little studying

and preparation it wasnt a problem for most students. However, most is not all

students, and there is a large portion of them that suffer quite the disadvantage when it

comes to standardized tests. These students are ELLs. For them, standardized testing

could easily mean a drastic change in their education, and in some cases even the end of

it, among many other things. All standardized tests are made to accommodate English-

speaking students, and this leaves quite the educational gap for students that arent native

English speakers. Taking these various English standardized tests leaves much of their

education with something to be desired, and forms an inaccurate representation of their

knowledge and skills, yet close to nothing is being done to help these students. Instead,
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the government pushes on with standardized testing and the idea that it determines a

students education and knowledge, implementing new forms of it every year.

In Washington State, the testing system that is used in public education is called

WCAP, and it includes two tests: the MSP test for grades third through eighth, and the

HSPE test which is for students in high school. Online at a website called

smarterbalanced.org students, teachers, and parents can look at and take practice tests that

contain questions similar to the ones that will be on the actual test. One of the grade 3

practice questions for the ELA section of the MSP test features a short story and has

questions that refer back to the passage (Smarter Balanced). For an ELL student, there

are many parts to this question that they could potentially struggle with because of their

lack of proficiency and fluency with the English language. One of the first problems a

child would encounter when approaching this question is reading the passage and

understanding the information in it well enough to answer the questions.

In the passage that the practice question provides, A Few New Neighbors, by

Kerry McGee, a birds nest is made in a girl named Jessies neighbors wreath on their

door, and she has to tell the movers to be careful not to scare the babies in the nest. Some

of the words used in the short story are fluttering, jumble, tromping, and wreath

(Smarter Balanced). There are around one million different words in the English

language, and within these words many of them have different meanings or multiple

words carrying the same definition. Also, many of these words dont translate into other

languages because they dont exist in other cultures. Descriptive words like these that are

used in tests could easily be a word that an ELL student has never heard of before,
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because these types of words often appear in academic English, and less often in

conversational English, which in most cases is the first part of English that ELLs master.

In some cases, an ELL student might be able to use the context of the word they

dont know and make a prediction as to what the word means, or it might not be

necessary for them to understand that word in order to answer the questions correctly.

However in many cases, and with this specific problem, there are two questions that

require the student to know what some of these more challenging, descriptive words

mean, and guessing wouldnt help them. Question number four asks the student what the

word jumble most likely means, and question seven asks what the phrase used in the

passage eased it open says about the main character (Smarter Balanced). If the ELL

student had never heard that word or phrase before, answering these questions would be

nearly impossible for them. Also, in the story it mentions that the birds nest was made in

a wreath. This word isnt very commonly used in the English language, especially in

conversational English, and if the ELL student didnt know what the word meant their

entire interpretation of the short story could be completely different, and affect the way
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they answer the questions as well.

Its easy for school administration and even teachers to misinterpret that the

ability of an ELL student to speak English well also means that they are able to read and

interpret academic English. However, the ability of an ELL to speak English well doesnt

mean theyre ready to switch to an English classroom and take standardized tests because

academic English is quite different from conversational English and takes much longer

for ELLs to learn, on average around five to eight years (English Learners in American

Classrooms, 32). If an ELL student began their English education in kindergarten, and

encountered this specific test question taking their third grade MSP test they would only

have participated in, at the most, three years of a public schools English program, which

for some isnt even enough to become fluent in conversational English considering the

average time to master that ability is two to four years.


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Regarding the five to eight years that it takes to learn academic English, more

specifically this use of the word learn means that it takes that long on average just for an

ELL to score in the 50th percentile on tests that require reading in English, not to be

completely fluent. However, this statistic is misleading because around half of native

English speakers never reach the 50th percentile on reading comprehension tests (English

Learners in American Classrooms, 32). Based off of this information, the words fluent

and proficient regarding the English language are very broad terms, because some ELL

students will take much longer than the statistical average of becoming proficient in

academic English, a feat that half of English speaking students never reach. If half of the

English-speaking students in the United States can never reach the 50th percentile in

testing regarding academic reading comprehension when theyve known English for their

entire life, its unfair to place that high of an expectation on an ELL student with only

three years of practicing English. Especially when there is question as to whether these

standardized tests are too advanced for even the students that only speak English.

It isnt only in Washington that ELL students are struggling with standardized

testing, its happening all across the United States. In California, standardized test scores

for grades 2nd through 11th show that at the most, only 40% of ELL students scored in

proficient or above in the 2nd grade, while after that the percentage drastically dropped,

and mostly in the other grades only around 10-20% scored in that proficient category.

This is compared to non-ELL students, who in general had around 60-70% of students

score in proficient or above (PPIC, Fig. 5). The fact that non-ELL students averagely had

around 50% more students score proficiently than the ELL students should be extremely

alarming, as it shows the large educational gap that exists between these students, and
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indicates that ELLs are either not receiving quality education and/or these standardized

tests are not accommodating for the ELL population.

Another study organized by the Nations Report Card, shows the test scores of

ELL students and non-ELL students nationwide that took the NAEP. Specifically looking

at the 8th grade test scores for mathematics in 2015, ELLs scored an average of 246,

which is 14 points behind the score of basic, and is 54 points behind the line of proficient.

Non-ELL students scored an average of 284, which is above basic and about halfway to a

score of proficient, and 38 points ahead of the ELL students scores (2015 Mathematics

and Reading Assessment, 8th grade mathematics). Focusing on a different test, the 8th

grade NAEP for reading shows an average score of 223 for ELL students in 2015, which

is about 22 points below a score of basic, 57 points behind proficient, and an alarming 45

points behind non-ELL students who scored above basic and near proficient with a score
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of 268 (2015 Mathematics and Reading Assessment, 8th grade reading).

Unfortunately, this pattern of ELLs testing much lower than non-ELL students

isnt new to 2015; its been going on for years. Simply put, ELLs score lower than non-

ELLs on test subjects like reading, math, science, and more. This isnt because ELL
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students are for some reason less intelligent than native English speaking students, it just

means that standardized tests of all subjects require some extent of English language

proficiency (Standardized Achievement Tests, 231). Referring back to the test scores

recorded by the National Report Card, the gap of scores between ELL students and non-

ELL students was smaller in mathematics than it was in reading, indicating that there is a

correlation between how low ELL test scores are and how much English language

proficiency is required. Its common sense that a subject such as reading would require

more proficiency in English than a subject such as math where most likely the majority of

the problems would simply have numbers and equations, and have little need for reading

comprehension aside from story problems (Standardized Achievement Test, 231). The

scores in the National Report Card support this, as the score difference between the two

groups of students in mathematics was 38, and in reading it was 45. This may not seem

like a huge difference in between scores, but because the scores fluctuated on such a

small scale, the highest difference in between ELL and non-ELL scores being 45 points,

this 7-point gap is very significant.

The fact that ELLs test scores are lower when there is more reading

comprehension required and higher when theres not brings up another point of interest;

that ELLs knowledge is inaccurately and unfairly represented through standardized test

scores. In a study conducted by Cirett and Beal in 2010, it was discovered that ELLs

performance and scores on math word problems declined as the English text in the

problem was more complex and required higher proficiency in English, but then scored

better when the wording of the problem was changed to a more simple version even

though the same mathematical equation from the complex text problem was used (The
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Effect of Test Translation, 28). If the ELL students could successfully complete the math

problem when the wording was simplified, then its clear that the problem doesnt lie

within the extent or ability of the students knowledge, but within their ability to

understand complex English language.

In Alt, Arizmendi, Beal, and Hurtados study The Effect of Test Translation on

the Performance of Second Grade English Learners on the Keymath-3, they gathered up

21 second grade ELL students that spoke Spanish as their primary language due to the

fact that the majority of ELL students in K-12 are Spanish-speaking. Using a popular

standardized math test they first gave each student a question in English, and if the

student got the question right they moved on, but if the student didnt give the correct

answer they then asked the same question but in Spanish. Their results revealed that the

test scores from the English enhanced with Spanish version were much higher than the

English only test scores. To ensure that the score wasnt higher just because the second

graders got another chance to guess, Alt et al. went through the questions, pulling out the

ones that were answered correctly when the Spanish version was given, and within those

questions calculated the number of questions that could be guessed on. They discovered

that out of the 134 questions that were answered correctly when presented in Spanish,

only 40 of them were considered questions that couldve been guessed on (29-33).

These test results reveal a very important point in the fight against standardized

testing for ELLs. When these test questions were re-administered to the students in their

primary language they were able to solve them correctly, and more importantly every

student in the study received a higher score than they did with the English only exam

when the Spanish test questions were included. Also, not every question that was re-
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asked in Spanish was answered correctly, which proves that the higher scores werent just

due to the second chance at answering a question, because if that were true there

wouldnt have been questions that werent answered correctly when presented in Spanish

(The Effect of Test Translation, 33).

Lower standardized test scores for ELL students dont indicate that theyre

unintelligent or necessarily behind in certain subjects, it simply means theyre struggling

with academic English proficiency, and more time to become fluent as well as better

resources to get to that point is what they need help with. Using standardized testing to

judge a students knowledge and competence is extremely detrimental for ELL students,

as in this day and age standardized tests are used to determine student placement in

classes, whether a student is held back in school or can move forward, and even

graduation. If an ELL student is judged based off of their test scores, they could end up in

a remedial English class, or a remedial math class where they are stuck behind in a course

where they dont belong that inhibits their ability to learn, and does close to nothing to

help their real problem of becoming proficient in the English language. This is a terrible

waste of education and holds back students with real potential to be successful in the

world and prevents them from doing so (High Stakes Testing, 260-61).

Not only does standardized testing negatively affect ELL students, but it also has

a negative effect on their teachers as well. Many teachers and ESL teachers disagree with

the governments state mandated tests, for more than one reason. They dislike them

because of the fact that theyre an unfair representation of some of their students like

ELL students, but they also believe that this push on standardized tests takes over the

curriculum, leaving little room for anything besides preparing for the tests. This forces
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teachers to teach the test to their students, rather than teach them the curriculum that is

the most beneficial to them in the long run, taking away from the quality of the education

(ESL Teachers Views, 406). Restricting what teachers can teach to their students is

never a good idea, because only the teacher knows exactly what their classroom and

students need to learn and succeed is. If teachers are forced through this excess

standardized testing to only teach their students to pass these tests not only ELL students

but all students are missing out on very important education that they need to succeed in

life outside of public school. This will weaken the teacher-student bond, and in time will

cause the generation thats in school now to have to work lower-paying jobs because their

education was insufficient enough to support a career, and to overall be undereducated

(High Stakes Testing, 261), especially the ELL population that will have never received

the proper education to become proficient in academic and conversational English.

The reason as to why the government neglects to come up with a way to

accommodate ELL students on their standardized tests, or to find some kind of alternative

is essentially unknown. However, theres evidence pointing to the fact that ELL students

are victims of something much bigger than just poor wording on tests. In the 2009-2010

school year, there was an approximate 4.7 million, or about 10% of all students, that were

ELL in the United States school system, and the number is continuing to grow

(Promoting Validity, 216). Referring back to the practice MSP test question, before you

began the practice test you had to answer a series of questions regarding the settings.

There was a language option, but the only other option it had besides English was Braille

(Smarter Balanced). Compared to the millions of ELL students in the U.S., there are

around 50,000 blind students in the U.S., and only 10% of these students are learning
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how to read Braille (Blindness Statistics). If there are millions less blind students that

can read braille than ELL students, then by that logic there should be another language

option on the test for ELL students if there is a Braille option. ELL students are being

denied rights that other groups of students are receiving, and they are being treated

through an unequal bias in the way that their rights and need to be accommodated to in

standardized testing is being overlooked, even though non-ELL students and blind

students who can read Braille are being accommodated. ELLs are the targets of

institutional discrimination.

Although its unclear if the discrimination towards ELLs is deliberate or not, it is

a very real problem that they are facing. ELLs test scores have suffered for years due to

standardized testing, and have remained far below their non-ELL counterparts and below

the passing level, yet close to nothing has been done to help them succeed when taking

these tests. If anything, things have just been getting worse for them as more and more

tests are required, and more new, confusing tests are replacing the old ones. This denial

of help to ELL students regarding standardized tests is very similar to the ideas of

English-only and total English immersion which are both ways of teaching ELL

students that have not only been proven to not work well, but have also inflicted

emotional damage on the ELL student. Total English immersion, also known as sink or

swim has actually been outlawed in the teaching of ELLs because not only did it not

teach the students English, it actually stopped all progress of it because it was so stressful

(English Learners in American Classrooms, 18). While English-only is more of an idea

than a way to teach students, and far less harsh, the underlying roots of total English

immersion are in it. The idea of an English-only society leaves no room or tolerance for
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other languages, and believes that students and adults should only speak in English, not in

their primary language, and if theyre learning English it should be taught as quickly as

possible with no respect to their native language (English Learners in American

Classrooms, 51).

By having English as the only option for language when ELLs are taking a

standardized test, its the same kind of tactic that would be used by a person who

believed in an English-only society. Quickly rushing students through the system so

that they can start only using English, even if theyre not completely ready and their test

scores show that is discrimination. Refusing to implement other resources to make the

testing easier for ELL students is in other words discriminating against a group of

students. Its hard to know why it is happening, either the government doesnt believe in

the use of other languages, or they just dont want to deal with the problem, or something

entirely different, but whatever the reason something needs to be done.

ELL students have been struggling with standardized testing for years without

anything done to make a difference for them, year after year their low test scores continue

to show that these tests are too complicated, and their English proficiency skills arent

ready to be used on a test where even non-ELLs struggle with the reading

comprehension. These standardized tests arent entirely bad, and getting rid of them

completely would be just as bad of an idea as keeping them the way they are. Instead,

there needs to be more resources in school for ELL students. If they have more

experienced ESL teachers, better English programs that focus on using their native

language to develop their English, less complex English on the test problems, and

different language options to take the tests in, a lot of good could come from tests.
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Instead of having the test determine if a child moves up a grade, graduates, or determines

their knowledge, the test could be used by teachers to see where a student is in terms of

the rest of the class, and what needs to be focused on in the curriculum. Education should

be about quality, not high scores and low scores, or passing and failing. Rather than how

fast the school system can get all the students through it, the focus should be replaced

into education and teacher-student relationships, to ensure that the next generation is

educated and successful.

References:

Abedi, Jamal. Standardized Achievement Tests and English Language Learners:

Psychometrics Issues. Educational Assessment. 8.3 (2002): 231-257. Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Web. 17 Nov 2015.

Alt et al. The Effect of Test Translation on the Performance of Second Grade English

Learners on the Keymath-3. Psychology in the Schools. 50.1 (2013): 27-36.

Wiley. Web. 18 Nov 2015.

Blindness Statistics. National Federation of the Blind. Sep 2015. Web. Nov 18 2015.

Hill, Laura. Californias English Learner Students. Public Policy Institute of

California. Figure 5. Sep 2012. Web. 17 Nov 2015.

Crawford, James and Krashen Stephen. English Learners in American Classrooms.

Scholastic Teaching Resources. 2007. Print. 17 Nov 2015.

Practice and Training Tests: G3 ELA Practice Test. Smarter Balanced Assessment

Consortium. Practice Question 1. May 2014. Web. 17 Nov 2015.


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Sireci, Stephen G. and Faulkner-Bond, Molly. Promoting Validity in the Assessment of

English Learners. Review of Research in Education. 39.6 (2015): 215-252. Sage

Journals. Web. 17 Nov. 2015

Solrzano, Ronald W. High Stakes Testing: Issues, Implications, and Remedies for

English Language Learners. Review of Educational Research. 78.2 (2008): 260-

329. Sage Journals. Web. 17 Nov 2015.

Yueming Jia , Zohreh R. Eslami & Lynn M. Burlbaw. ESL Teachers Perceptions and

Factors Influencing Their Use of Classroom-Based Reading Assessment.

Bilingual Research Journal. 30.2 (2006): 407-430. Taylor & Francis Group.

Web. 18 Nov 2015.

2015 Mathematics and Reading Assessments: National Scores by Student Group (Status

as English Language Learners). The Nations Report Card. 2015. Web. 17 Nov

2015.

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