Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

Organizations

CRESST

National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, located within UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies

CRESST conducts rigorous research studies and evaluates educational programs. One of the five research and evaluation themes for CRESST is assessment and evaluation supporting special populations, including special needs students and English language learners (ELLs).

NCELA

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition at USDOE's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA)

NCELA is authorized under Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and supports the Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) in its mission to respond to Title III educational needs and implement NCLB as it applies to English language learners (ELLs).

OELA

Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students

OELA administers programs and activities under Title III and Title V of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).These include all Title III formula and discretionary grant programs, foreign language formula and discretionary grant programs (Title V), discretionary grants funded under the former Title VII of ESEA and the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA).

GW-CEEE

Center for Equity and Excellence in Education at George Washington University

CEEE conducts research and evaluation studies for state education agencies, local education agencies, and various offices of the U.S. Department of Education. CEEE's efforts often focus on the improvement of student achievement of children who are English language learners, migrant, or impacted by poverty.

Acronyms

EL

English Learner

ELL

English Language Learners (ELLs) refers to students whose first language is not English, and encompasses both students who are just beginning to learn English (often referred to in federal legislation as "limited English proficient" or "LEP") and those who have already developed considerable proficiency. The term underscores the fact that, in addition to meeting all the academic challenges that face their monolingual peers, these students are mastering another language—something too few monolingual English speakers are currently asked to do in U.S. schools. (GW-CEE)

ELD

English language development is instruction designed specifically for English language learners to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in English. ELD standards are a version of English language arts standards that have been crafted to address the specific developmental stages of students learning English.
(From NCELA glossary)

ELP

English Language Proficiency or English language proficient

ESL

English as a second language is an educational approach in which English language learners are instructed in the use of the English language. Their instruction is based on a special curriculum that typically involves little or no use of the native language, focuses on language (as opposed to content), and is usually taught during specific school periods.

ESOL

English for speakers of other languages (see ESL definition above)

LEP

Limited English proficiency or Limited English proficient (see ELL definition above). The legal term for students who speak another language in the home and are not yet fluent in English. English language learner is currently the preferred term for describing these students.

Terms

Accommodation

A change to testing procedures, testing materials, or the testing situation in order to allow students meaningful participation in an assessment. Effective accommodations for ELLs address the unique linguistic and socio-cultural needs of the student without altering the test construct and without interfering with the validity or reliability of the test's results.

Clarification in English (unscripted)

An accommodation in which oral explanations of text considered potentially difficult for ELLs to access are provided. Clarification differs from scripted oral English in that instead of reading from a script, the test administrator provides the explanation or clarification on-the-fly. Examples of clarification accommodations include "clarify/explain test directions in English" and "simplify test directions."

Construct

The skill or proficiency an assessment is intended to measure

Construct-irrelevant variance

A type of measurement error introduced when a student takes a test in a language in which she or he is not yet proficient

Customized dictionaries

A dictionary that has been altered or specially compiled for a given context. It may contain a specialized list of standard dictionary definitions compiled for a particular assessment and may contain only words known to appear on the particular assessment.

Direct linguistic support accommodations

Adjustments to the language of the test which can be provided in the student's native language or in English

Dual language reference materials

Word-to-word dictionaries and glossaries provided in print or electronically in both English and a second language

ELP assessments

Assessments of English language proficiency and development

ELL-responsive accommodation

An accommodation that would be expected to reduce construct-irrelevant variance resulting from the language demands of the test. These types of accommodations address ELLs' linguistic needs by providing supports to help students access the academic construct being measured by the assessment.

ELL-responsive taxonomy

A system of classifying accommodations according to whether they provide direct linguistic support or indirect linguistic support (developed by Rivera et al., 2006)

English reference materials

Includes English dictionaries and glossaries provided in print or electronically. The types of English dictionaries used to accommodate ELLs include standard dictionaries, learners' dictionaries, and customized dictionaries. A learner's dictionary is designed specifically for ELLs and defines words in plain English and may also give examples of usage and may provide synonyms.

Glossary

A list of terms in a special subject, field, or area of usage with accompanying definitions. English glossaries are specialized lists of words with definitions or explanations customized to fit the perceived needs of the test taker. Glossaries may use simplified English.

Indirect linguistic support accommodations

Adjustments to the conditions under which ELLs take an assessment. This type of accommodation consists of extending the time limits of a test to facilitate ELLs' language processing. Extended time may be provided as a stand-alone accommodation or in combination with one or more direct linguistic support accommodations.

Non-standarized accommodations

Accommodations implemented at the discretion of the test administrator. Such accommodations may provide undue assistance or contribute to measurement error due to variations in implementation.

Oral Response in English

A category of accommodations that allow students to answer test items orally in English. Oral responses are tape-recorded and/or scribed and entered onto the student's test form by the test administrator.

Plain English

A category of accommodations consisting of test items and/or test directions for which linguistic complexity has been reduced while maintaining the level of difficulty of the test construct. Plain English text is characterized by linguistic structure(s) and vocabulary that avoid ambiguity, colloquialisms, or multiple meanings. Plain English is also referred to in the research literature and/or in state assessment policies as "modified English," "simplified English," "simplification," or "plain language."

Response in native language

A category of accommodations in which students are allowed to respond either orally or in writing in their stronger language. Native language responses may either be scored in the native language or translated into English prior to scoring.

Scripted oral English

A category of accommodations that includes reading aloud and repeating test items or directions from a script and/or presenting the text to the test-taker through an audio recording or CD. The learner simultaneously has access to the written text.

Scripted oral translation

A category of accommodations that involves reading aloud a professionally translated script of translated test items and/or directions or presenting the translation through an audio recording or CD.

Sight translation

A category of accommodations involving oral, on-the-fly rendering of test directions, items, or both from English into a student's native language. This type of accommodation differs from scripted oral translation in that instead of reading from a script, the test administrator (who is typically competent in the language of the translation) orally translates as he or she reads. This "on-the-fly" interpretation also distinguishes sight translation from written translation.

Test administration practices

Adjustments to testing procedures, testing materials, or the testing situation useful for administering accommodated tests to ELLs.

Written translation

A category of accommodations in which all or part of an English language assessment is rendered into a second language. Accommodations in this category include written translation of test directions, side-by-side dual language versions of the test, or translated versions of entire tests.