he Use of Assessment Methods and the Impact on English Language LearnersT
April 30, 2014

Testing English Language Learners (ELL’s) in our district is a very huge process. When students first enroll, whether it is kindergarten or high school, the parents or guardians are required to fill out a home language survey. Based off the answers the parent/guardians provide determines if the student goes to central registration for testing. If the child is found to be of having more than one language they go for testing. The testing that the student goes through is the World –Class Instructional Design Assessment (WIDA). The WIDA method was adopted in 2008 for the entire state of Virginia. The WIDA is comprised of a series of tests ranging from spoken, written, and listening skills. The instructor who gives the test then gives the child a score on the range of one to six. These scores are directly correlated to the ELP Standards, (www.pwcs.edu/ESOL), our state has adopted. Once the WIDA is given, it gives the upcoming or current teachers a score in reading, writing, fluency, speaking, and listening. From those areas it also gives us a composite score. The composite score is what the ELL teachers use to group their students for instruction.
These scores give us teacher’s valuable information in how we should instruct our children and how they should be assessed. We know if a child is at the beginning level we will not have the same expectations as those who are monitor status at the level six. However, there is not a lot of progress monitoring done with this program. The children are tested and that is it. The teachers are given the test information and set on our own to form instruction and make sure the children are adequately learning.
This is not what the article by Stiggins and Chappius