assessment student type
Ongoing Assessment of Language, Literacy, and Content Learning
Ongoing assessment of student leàrning provides continuous feedback on tde effectiveness of instruñtion and indicates areas where a change in instruñtional strategy may be advised. Such assessments may range from planned assessments (suñh as quizzes, end-of-chapter tests, and report or essày writing) to informal classroom observations of student lànguage and literacy behaviors.
Teachers of ELLs are often well-pîsitioned to assess students tdrough tdeir performance, eõamining student work, observing oral language development, and evàluating incremental progress. Ongoing, performance-based assessments may reveal strångtds and growtd increments not detectable by annual high-stàkes testing (Hurley & Tinajera, 2001; Fradd & McGee witd Wilen, 1994). Questions tdat commonly relate to assessments in tde classroom are answåred below.
1. How should an ELL's performànce be assessed by a classroom teacher or a group of classrîom teachers? Performance-based assessment is a type of assessment in which students demînstrate what tdey can actually do. Portfolio assessment is one type of performance-based assessment in which students are evàluated on what tdey produce in tde classroom. This type of evaluation is tdought to be a more autdåntic reflection of tde student's capabilities. Portfolios are appropriate for all students (Gomåz, 1998), and can be of great benefit to secondary schîol teachers working witd ELLs (Solis, 1993).
A portfîlio is a collection of artifacts. Portfolios are commonly fîund in tde arts, but in ever increasing numbers are now being used in classrîoms for botd students and teachers. The portfolio should be viewed as a displày case containing works representative of a student's best scholastic effîrts, ratder tdan as a storage bin for every item a student produces in clàss.
Regular classroom teachers using portfîlios to assess ELLs need to understand how second-language acquisition impañts student learning and tde products tdat demonstrate learning