Art Un ticle I.1 ited Sta In the ates News - Woodring College of ...

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Data SourcesThe data consisted of 89 performance-based assessments completed by the transitional studentsand field notes and audiotapes from test development meetings, scoring sessions, and interviewswith the workgroup members. The summary and interpretation of events were triangulated withinterviews with the project participants upon completion of the analysis. Project participants andone of the consultants read a draft of this manuscript and provided clarifications to thebackground and test development sections of this paper and feedback on the analysis of the tests.The Transitional Performance-Based Assessment (TPBA)The assessment was developed over an 18-month period during which workgroup members metto discuss relevant language issues; look for appropriate reading materials; create, field test, andevaluate test items; complete a final assessment measure; and test, score, and interpret studentperformance. The transitional assessment instrument, which was framed in second languageacquisition theory and Vygotsky’s construct of assisted performance in assessments (1978),paralleled the district-wide Performance-Based Assessment (PBA), (as required by the districtassessment department):(a) students were required to read and respond to two English texts onrelated topics, one fiction and one nonfiction; (b) test items required constructed writtenresponses targeting the fifth-grade language arts standards; and(c) the texts were given in Englishto evaluate a transitional program for students participating in English-only classroominstruction.The workgroup considered the following most important: (a) adjust the reading level to make thetexts accessible to transitional readers; (b) test more than one standard per item, enablingstudents to build on their knowledge across items; (c) design holistic scoring procedures tocomplement the integrated structure of the assessment; and (d) use of bilingual teachers forscoring.In adjusting the reading level of the texts, the workgroup members considered three factors. Theworkgroup chose shorter texts than those used for the district PBA to allow bilinguals enoughprocessing time. The workgroup also believed that the students could not be assessed fairly usingfifth grade reading material since they had had only one year of English reading instruction.They selected texts they believed were age-appropriate in content but were less dense andvocabulary-dependent and culturally more familiar than the texts used in the district PBA. Aclassroom teacher administered the test in two periods: one for pre-reading activities to activatebackground knowledge and set the purpose for reading, and the other for administering the testitself. All classroom teachers used the same pre-reading activities, as did the English onlyteachers in administering the PBA.Since many items of the TPBA measured multiple standards, the group chose holistic scoring toevaluate responses. In addition to changes in the content and structure of the test, which provideda kind of built-in scaffolding, other features of the test such as graphics, formatting, and preassessmentactivities provided for assisted performance consistent with fair assessment practicefor English language learners. Strategies included development of necessary vocabulary,activation of background knowledge, and providing the opportunity to formulate ideas orallybefore writing.District bilingual teachers scored the assessment during a two-day period approximately twoweeks after it was given. Consultants who had read all of the tests developed a rubric and chosenanchor papers from student work, facilitated scorer calibration. During the calibration processteachers read the anchor papers, assigned a score based on the rubric, and recorded evidence© 2008 Dr. Catherine CollierAll Rights Reserved168
for their decisions, noting issues such as language or test formatting for later debriefing. Duringthe subsequent discussion, teachers explained their rationale for assigning certain scores, anddisagreements were resolved by reference to the rubric and advisement with the consultants.After calibration, pairs of teachers scored each test independently, checked their scores with eachother, discussed discrepancies, and reconciled their scores. Differences that could not bereconciled (25% of the cases) were refereed by one of the consultants.Data AnalysisAll 89 tests were read several times, and 5 of the 11 test items were chosen for in-depth analysisbecause they required inferential thinking beyond basic identification and summarization tasks,and allowed for more detailed analysis of reading comprehension. Each student’s responses tothe five items were then re-read multiple times without reference to pre-determined analyticcategories. As patterns began to emerge from the readings, tentative analytic categories wereidentified. The tests were then read again to see how successfully each category captured aspectsof student performance. They were then coded according to the evaluation scheme thatdeveloped. As examples of various response patterns were logged and preliminary interpretationswere made, the categories were refined and examples re-examined for consistency.Seventy-four percent of the students received holistic scores in the 2–3range. According to therubric, this score range reflects a processing of English texts primarily at the literal level. Levels2 and 3 are described as “limited” and “adequate,” respectively. However, because the tests werescored holistically, many individual examples of more abstract or inferential processing thatmight provide more specific information about the nature of transitional reading comprehensionwere not reflected in the score distribution. To further investigate the validity of this measure inassessing transitional students’ reading comprehension skills, the holistic scoring wassupplemented by more in-depth item analysis by this paper’s authors. This analysis wasundertaken to gain more specific information about the conditions under which higher level,inferential responses were elicited.The analytic categories included phonological, syntactic, and semantic aspects of language aswell as deeper levels of text processing regarding character and author motivation, text themes,and ability to assume other points of view (Westby, 1989). Although, originally, surface featuresor “conventions” of the written responses were not scored, for the purposes of this study they arepart of the analysis here to amplify scorer response.Results and DiscussionAnalysis of the students’ performance revealed four significant findings:(a) Characteristics ofsecond language learning in the areas of phonology, syntax, and semantics were present tovarying degrees in l00% of the students’ responses; (b) specific knowledge of the linguisticcharacteristics of transitional students was necessary for effective interpretation and accuratescoring of student responses; (c) the transitional students demonstrated the ability to comprehendand interpret English texts at inferential levels when assessed on the transitional assessmentmeasure; and (d) the transitional performance-based assessment results suggested to teachersmany possible changes they could make in their instruction to meet the literacy needs oftransitional students.Finding 1: Second Language Learning CharacteristicsIn the first level of analysis, phonological, semantic, and syntactic features of the students’responses were analyzed to determine the role they played in the students’ ability to express© 2008 Dr. Catherine CollierAll Rights Reserved169
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"Those who arrive by age 12 or 13 m
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Article I.2 Are Signed Languages "R
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Biological analyses of the status o
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and beyond, speaking and signing ch
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Conclusion: Are Signed Languages Re
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Article I.3 The Interpreter: Has a
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A few weeks earlier, I had called F
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“We struggled even getting to the
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herself by strapping a cassette rec
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In 1998, after nine years as the ch
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momentary burst of excitement that
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can shape core grammar. Because the
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The authors compared animal and hum
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monkey moved. He followed it with h
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delight, fear, laughter, and surpri
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Piipaío in a hut: Pirahã huts typ
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LEP students, and equitable organiz
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4. Second language development crea
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curriculum or "teaching to the test
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portfolio work was scanned and stor
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experiences of many groups of stude
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While not disagreeing that interpre
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sound educational practice, however
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arises from the efforts to abstract
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Article II.2 Cross-Cultural Communi
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males who can serve as positive rol
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Understanding another culture is a
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Pets and AnimalsWhich animals are v
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to teach standard English is reflec
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Asking personal questions of a pers
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Using Cross Cultural Communication
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Why Do Nonstandard English-Speaking
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Before beginning to teach standard
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• Negative attitudes toward low p
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New standardized tests and assessme
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Each of the behaviors listed above
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Article II.3 Hard Work Hypothesis:
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each point higher in SES, students
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This case does not provide strong s
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Article II.4 Language Acquisition a
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1992, p. XI). These researchers, wh
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comprehend a word within a specific
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more to the truthfulness of the chi
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This idea of “semilingualism” c
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Article III.1 A Brief Description o
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take different lengths of time to c
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example, should involve the same co
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As with all stages of BICS acquisit
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Assessment techniques at stage 3 ca
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different. Therefore, the social di
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integrative motivation. Basically,
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(Ellis, 1985; Hakuta, 1986). Howeve
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that sociocultural processes have o
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Article III.3 How Children Acquire
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phonetic units (unique to signed la
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Page 123 and 124: By focusing on the dialectic betwee
Page 125 and 126: intergenerational wisdom shared by
Page 127 and 128: Daily Realities RecappedThe above v
Page 129 and 130: traditions. At a time in our histor
Page 131 and 132: We will now look at two examples of
Page 133 and 134: Speakers communicate fluently, main
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Page 137 and 138: Article IV.3 Culture Change: Effect
Page 139 and 140: and psychological characteristics o
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Page 149 and 150: Fourth, ESL and bilingual program s
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Page 153 and 154: Table 1Comparison of Recent Accultu
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Page 159 and 160: Article V.3 Assessment of English L
Page 161 and 162: 8. Change answers only for a very g
Page 163 and 164: Riles, 1979; Jose P. v Ambac, 1983)
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Page 175 and 176: their imagined points of view. Ther
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