Lecture Notes: Research-Based Recommendations for Supportive Opportunities for ELL Students

Key Topics

• Formative vs. Summative Assessment
• Use of Multiple Measures
• Linguistic Complexity and Cultural Bias
• Fair Testing Practices
• Accessibility Considerations
• Concluding Thought

Formative vs. Summative Assessment

• Formative Assessment
  • Extremely important and useful
  • Utilized throughout the learning process, not just at the end
  • Helps inform instructional decisions and provides support as needed
• Summative Assessment
  • Conducted at the end of a period (e.g., end of the year)
  • By the time results are available, it's often too late to intervene

Use of Multiple Measures

• Avoid reliance on a single assessment measure
• Single assessments can lead to reliability issues and flawed decision-making
• Multiple assessments provide a more holistic and reliable view of student performance

Linguistic Complexity and Cultural Bias

• Assessments should be free from unnecessary linguistic complexity
  • Reducing linguistic complexity is not 'dumbing down' assessments
  • Makes assessments richer and more accessible
• Cultural bias should be minimized

Fair Testing Practices

• Assessments need to consider students' backgrounds and academic needs
• A fair assessment does not expect all students to perform the same without modifications
• Assessments should be accessible and equitable for all students

Accessibility Considerations

• Important to think about what accessibility features should be included for ELL students

Concluding Thought

• Shared a picture illustrating the concept of fair assessment: "For a fair assessment, everybody has to take the same exam: please climb that tree."
  • Highlights the impracticality and unfairness of expecting all students to perform the same on mainstream assessments without accommodations

Thanks

• Lecturer ended with a thank you note