Essay on Teaching Assistant - 1155 Words

PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION: TDA 2.8 health and safety 3.1) Outline the importance of taking a balanced approach to risk management. Children should be encouraged to think about risks and given more independence, so they are more likely to grow in confidence. If a child’s experiences is limited its likely that the child may find it difficult to assess and manage risks on their own .If we become to obsess about their health an safety, we may affect their learning development and abilities. Sometimes it’s good to offer them challenging environment for them to deal with risks under our observation also when a child sustain or witness injuries they gain direct experience of their action and choices. 4.1) Recognise and respond to emergency†¦show more content†¦Its your responsibility to make sure every children your with leaves the building. All rooms must have evacuation instructions including exit routes. The sequence for fire and emergency evacuation procedures should be as follows: -sound the fire alarm-evacuate the building-call the fire brigade-assemble at the assembly point-take a roll call using register. Missing child: A register should be taken in each class starting of each session. A register also should be taken for children who are participating in outings/visits away from school leaving a duplicate with head teacher. Children should be made aware and reminded of boundaries of school. If a child is found missing in school contact the class teacher and head teacher immediately. Search the child’s last whereabouts, classrooms, play areas and school grounds to ensure that the child is not hiding or been locked in somewhere within the school. The head teacher should contact the police and the parent/carers. Evacuation: If there is a bomb scare or an intruder in the school, evacuation procedures would be usually be the same as fire. You should report any emergency problems to the class teacher. Where as visitors should always be asked to sign in and out in the visitors book and given a visitor badge so you know who’s a visitor and who’s a intruder and most of all you know there whereabouts in an emergency as you are responsible for there health an safety. 4.3) GiveShow MoreRelatedNcfe Teaching Assistant Essay7227 Words   |  29 PagesThe primary objective of a teaching assistant is to support the school by carrying out a variety of tasks in order to create and maintain a safe, positive learning environment thus allowing teachers more time to focus on teaching. It is therefore paramount to remain flexible at all times. The purpose of this essay is to summarise the major learning points from the Teaching Assistant Diploma Course. I will address the nine subject areas separately. Supporting the teacher - Teachers are incrediblyRead MoreTeaching Assistant Level 2 (Assignment 3)6057 Words   |  25 PagesLevel 2 Teaching Assistant Certificate - Assignment Three Unit 3 Supporting the Curriculum TASK 9: Using subject headings together with a brief summary of the subject, describe the range and main provisions of the relevant National curriculum in the school where you are employed. Creative Development: This Area of Learning relates to the development of children’s individual ways of developing and representing their notions and emotions in an imaginative way through assorted mediums andRead MoreTeaching Assistant Level 2 Supportive the Pupil Essay11565 Words   |  47 PagesTASK 6. The social and emotional development of children from 5 to sixteen plays a crucial part in in the impact and quality of the child’s lives these influence the development of the child in various ways which is why it is important for a Teaching Assistant to recognise these factors so they can help the child continue learning and use the skills already instilled in them. By treating each child as their own person you learn that they are all different and develop at their own pace but in orderRead MoreVisiting Assistant Professor Of Teaching English1296 Words   |  6 Pagesthe position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language in the Language, Literacy, and Leadership Department at Webster University. I hold a doctor of philosophy in Foreign, Second, and Multilingual Language Education (within the TESOL program) with an interdisciplinary specialization in Educational Technology. Moreover, I have experience in teaching EFL and ESL learners E nglish. I am confident that my educational background and teaching experience enable me toRead MoreWhy I Would Be A Good Teaching Assistant874 Words   |  4 PagesThe reason I think I would be a good teaching assistant is because I have the fundamental of helping out the lead teacher. Recently I had to write a essay on why I wanted to be a teacher. So down below is my essay on why I want to become a teacher. The reason why I want to teach is because of the essential and noble profession. Next to parents, I think teacher are important foundational element in our society. Being a teacher would show me the value, knowledge, and character to be a figure for childrenRead MoreTeaching Assistants And Teaching Assistant2615 Words   |  11 Pagesschools across the UK.† (Wilson et al, 2003, cited in Parker, 2009) Teaching Assistants There are many titles currently in use to describe the role of a teaching assistant, such as: classroom assistant (Lee and Mawson, 1998), learning support assistant (Farrell et al., 2000), teaching aides (Hall et al., 1995), para-educators (French and Chopra, 1999) and auxiliary support (McGarvey et al., 1996). In the past, teaching assistants (TAs) were appointed as and when needed in an informal manner. For exampleRead MoreTeaching Assistant1580 Words   |  7 Pages11 January 2010 Global Sukuk Market Global Sukuk Update The sukuk market was not spared from the effect of the global financial crisis. After expanding robustly in 2007 (by 90% yoy by total value of sukuk issued), the sukuk market experienced a marked slowdown in 2008 and 1H09 due to the following reasons: †¢ †¢ †¢ Challenging market conditions and drying up of liquidity Wide credit spreads and shortages of USD funding in issuing countries Challenging economic environment in the GCC countriesRead MoreEssay on Teaching Assistant921 Words   |  4 Pagesneeds. * Follow the information provided for the pupils with special educational needs. * Observe and record pupils abilities and behaviour to pass on to the teacher. Question 4 Think about your role and responsibilities as a teaching assistant. List examples of your own general and specific tasks. * Support the teacher and pupils at all times based on personal experience and qualifications. * Always follow guidelines provided by the school. * Allow access to the nationalRead MoreCommunication At Prab Raritan Gardens Essay1748 Words   |  7 Pagesstaff member she is within her office. All staff members underneath of her, although the requirements of their jobs may be different, are all on the same level in terms of hierarchy. Within the classroom, Teacher N and her teaching assistant (further address as teacher assistant V) do much of the same duties. If I had not been told who held what job title, it might have been a little difficult to decipher between the two. The only difference that I have witness is the required conferences/ classesRead MoreTeaching And Mentoring Experience For Undergraduate Students1312 Words   |  6 PagesTeaching and Mentoring Experience Teaching has been a fundamental component of my academic training. I have been actively involved in teaching, tutoring, and mentoring high school and undergraduate research students throughout my doctoral and postdoctoral work at the City University of New York (CUNY). I taught General Chemistry (I II) laboratory courses and recitation sections at CUNY for four years. I volunteered as a physical chemistry tutor for undergraduate students from CUNY. At St.

Death Penalty - 2855 Words

The death penalty has been a controversial issue for many years. It was established centuries ago and has been accepted by society. It was put into place to punish those who had committed an offense against laws of the institution that was in place at the time. Within our society the death penalty has been associated with several symbols. ‘An eye for an eye,’ is a symbol that has come to be the representation of the death penalty; which was one of the original ideas behind it. Times have changed and the death penalty is now used for more serious offenses and considered to be a deterrence. The death penalty should be abolished because it does not effectively deter crime. I will be discussing the lack of deterrence on the death penalty†¦show more content†¦8). Based on these two states we can assume that having the death penalty does not deter people from committing murder, but it does not give us enough information to come to a stable conclusion. In order to avoi d any assumptions that the death penalty will change someone’s mind before committing a crime that is punishable by crime, we need more substantial results. â€Å"The second test was performed using Virginia, who follows Texas in number of convicts executed since 1976, and Massachusetts, with no death penalty† (Tyree, 2007, p.9). The relationship between these two states should give us a broader perspective as to whether the death penalty deters people from committing murder. According to the findings of these two states, â€Å"the murder rates per 100,000 inhabitants, for the state of Virginia in 1990 were 8.8 and in the state of Massachusetts were four. In 2000, the murder rates for Virginia were 5.7 and in the state of Massachusetts were two† (Tyree, 2007, p. 9). This allows us to form a more accurate perspective of how the states that have the death penalty actually have a higher rate of murder in contrast to the states that do not have the death penalty. Th ese findings are contrary to the belief system within our society that symbolizes the death penalty as a deterrent. The criminologists were â€Å"asked if they agreed that the empirical researchShow MoreRelatedPro Death Penalty Speech1482 Words   |  6 Pagesintroduce myself before we get started. My name is Slick Perry and if you didn’t already know, I am the state governor of Texas. You are all aware that we are reviewing our recidivism rate to various crimes and reviewing our stance regarding the death penalty as we approach 2009. Everyone here understands that capital punishment is a very controversial topic in the United States. In Texas, from December 1982 through August 2008, only 361 criminals of the millions of Texans in our good state were executedRead MoreThe Truth About The Death Penalty973 Words   |  4 Pages In her article â€Å"The Truth About The Death Penalty†, Carina Kolodny argues that the death penalty should be abolished in all fifty states due to the fact that it is ineffective and very expensive. Kolodny believes that capital punishment has too many complications and variables that cause it be more of an issue than a real solution for capital offenses. She proposes that the death penalty should be dropped and exchanged for better programs such as Proposition 34, which replaces capital punishmentRead MoreThe Bible and Death Penal ty Essay example812 Words   |  4 Pagesa person’s view of the Bible influence what they think about the death penalty for murderers.† I would like to see if a person’s view of the bible influence what they think of the death penalty. This is interesting to me because I am interested in the field of criminal justice and the death penalty is a huge topic to this day. There are many journals that talk about studies that were done on religion and views of the death penalty which have to do with my topic of interest. My hypothesis is thatRead MoreEssay on Death Penalty: Capital Punishment and Violent Crime1570 Words   |  7 PagesCapital Punishment and Violent Crime Hypothesis Most Americans are pro-death penalty, even though they dont really believe that it is an effective deterrent to violent crime. Those who are pro-death penalty will remain so, even if faced with the best arguments of anti-death penalty activists and told to assume the arguments were absolutely true. Violent crime Violent crime is a major problem in the United States. According to the ACLU, the violent crime rate rose sixty-one percentRead MoreEssay on Article Analysis: OSullivans View of the Death Penalty1536 Words   |  7 PagesBritain should have the death penalty. O’Sullivan addresses all the main counter arguments when explain to his audience his conclusion. His supporting evidence includes death penalty decisions in history and several other statistics. Emotionally terms, faulty cause and effects scenarios, and either/or point of views are other ways the author conveys his opinion to the audience. The article begins with an overall theme threw out O’Sullivan’s piece: does the death penalty appropriately punishRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Justified1143 Words   |  5 PagesAllison Shu 2/25/16 Period 2 Objective paper on the death penalty Capital punishment is legally authorized killing as punishment for a crime. The death penalty questions the morality of killing a person as justification for their crime. It also brings to question whether the death penalty actually serves as a deterrent for crime, and that some of the people executed are found innocent afterwards. The debates over the constitutionality of the death penalty and whether capital punishment should be usedRead MoreThe Death Penalty For Juveniles946 Words   |  4 Pages The death penalty for minors differs greatly from the death penalty for adult. The law that minor could be put on death row was decided to rule against the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment prohibits the act of â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† which putting minors on death row breaks. On March 4, 2005 the law that minors could not be put on death row for their actions was set into place. The new laws say, â€Å"They cannot punish a minor by death penalty and they cannot punish someone for a crimeRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Mandatory?925 Words   |  4 Pagesopinions on the subject. When we were discussing the death penalty although my opinion didn’t change, after hearing what some of my classmates had to say about the subject during our lab I was able to respectfully see why they had those thoughts and feelings about the subject. I believe that we should have the death penalty, and that it helps prevents more crime from happening. However, during our lab students that thought we should ban the death penalty had some pretty interesting reasons behind theirRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Legal1805 Words   |  8 Pagesthat we all know is the death penalty. This penalty has been going around for years. To many people it might be the best way of punishing a person. On the other hand there are people who think that if you kill a person you should be sentenced to die as well. For me I would say it might not be the best way and it not working as many would like it. When choosing if you are for the death penalty you have to okay with an insect person dyei ng or even a family member being in death row. I know that is somethingRead MoreThe Death Penalty : An Effective Reliable Tool904 Words   |  4 Pagesthe death penalty has been a frequent topic of discussion, as our recent technological advancements have evidently led individuals to consider the â€Å"new found† legitimacy of our court systems, as statistics display that our previous racial bias and the apparent morality of the practice itself have a miniscule impact on our conviction rate. Both the advancements and ethics that the death penalty provides become apparent through the utilization of anecdotes and statistics, as the death penalty has prevailed

Assessing the English Language Learner Free Essays

Assessing the English Language Learner (ELL) The Growth of ELL (ESL) The number of human beings who speak a language other than English continues to increase in the United States, Canada, and Australia, for example, as the number of immigrants grows. In 2006, 34. 70% of the population of Los Angeles, California, was foreign born; 25. We will write a custom essay sample on Assessing the English Language Learner or any similar topic only for you Order Now 50% of Miami, Florida; 39. 60% of Vancouver, British Columbia; 45. 70% of Toronto, Ontario; 28. 90% of Melbourne, Australia; and 31. 70% of Sydney, Australia (Statistics Canada, 2008). In the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2004) reported that â€Å"The number and percentage of language minority youth and young adults— that is, individuals who speak a language other than English at home—increased steadily in the United States between 1979 and 1999† (p. 1). NCES added, Of those individuals ages 5–24 in 1979, 6 million spoke a language other than English at home. By 1999, that number had more than doubled, to 14 million. Accordingly, of all 5- to 24-year-olds in the United States, the percentage who were language minorities increased from 9 percent in 1979 to 17 percent in 1999. p. 1) The number of ESL students in U. S. public schools has almost tripled over the last decade (Goldenberg, 2006). In 2004 Crawford observed that one-fourth of the school-age students in the United States were from homes where a language other than English was spoken. The school-age population (K–12) will reach about 40% ESL in about 20 years (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, 2002). Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Spanish speakers increased from about 20 to 31 million (U. S. Census Bureau, 2001). The Census Bureau report also showed a significant increase in the number of speakers from other linguistic groups, particularly Chinese and Russian. Individuals at all ages enter school to learn the English skills they need to learn, gain employment and participate in society. Planning for their instruction is a significant issue for teachers at all levels and assessment becomes central. In this chapter we first define and differentiate terms such as ESL and ELL and describe the populations they represent. The use of assessment measures to place students into appropriate instructional groups is described and the distinction between interpersonal and academic language is reviewed. The use of assessment in the classroom and as a gate-keeping tool is addressed in addition to the appropriateness of the use of published measures to assess ESL students. The first issue addressed is terminology. Defining ELL Over the years students who speak a language other than English have been titled English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. However, English in some cases is not the second language (L2), but may be the third (L3), the 4th (L4), etc. , language, and, as a result, members of this population have different linguistic resources to draw on. The term â€Å"English Language Learner† (ELL) has been adopted by educators, primarily in the United States, to describe better the notion that English may not be the L2. However, it is not a particularly good term because students who speak English as a First Language (L1) are also English language learners (Gunderson, 2008). The term â€Å"Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages† (TESOL) is used outside of the United States. Students who learn English in environments where it is not the language of the community are referred to as English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The pedagogy related to EFL is different from ESL (ELL) because students are not immersed in English in the community and the major task of the teacher is to try to provide them English models (Gunderson, 2008, 2009). An added difficulty with the term â€Å"ESL† or â€Å"ELL† is that it does not adequately characterize the diversity of human beings it represents. Those who use the term â€Å"ELL† do so to describe those K–12 students who come from homes in which the language used for daily communications is not English and who must learn English to succeed in schools where the medium of instruction is English. The ELL (ESL) Population A serious problem with the ELL (ESL) conceptualization is that it does not adequately describe the underlying complexities of differences in age, motivation, literacy background, and first and second language achievement (Gunderson, 2008, 2009). Those classified as ELL or ESL vary in age from pre-school to senior adults. Many speak no English at all, while others vary in oral English proficiency. Many have never attended school, while others have earned high academic credentials in the language of instruction in their home countries. They are from diverse cultural backgrounds that vary in the way they perceive the importance of teaching and learning. Many are immigrants to an English-speaking country, while many ELL learners are born in an English-speaking country, but speak a different language at home (Gunderson, 2008, 2009). Indeed, in the Vancouver, Canada, school district 60% of the kindergarten students are ESL and 60% of this number are born in Canada (Gunderson, 2007, 2009). Many immigrant ESL students come from impoverished refugee backgrounds, others have high levels of education and socioeconomic status. Thus, ESLs or ELLs do not adequately represent the underlying complexity of the human beings in the category. Assessment Issues in ELL Instruction in mainstream classes, those typically enrolling students of different abilities but of the same relative age in the same classrooms, is based broadly on the notion that the acquisition of English is developmental and occurs over time as human beings grow into maturity. It is also thought that there is a relationship between language development and â€Å"grade level. † Grade 1 students differ from Grade 7 students in systematic ways. Their teachers design instruction that is appropriate for their grade levels. ESL (ELL) students represent a more complex problem because their English and their cultural and learning backgrounds vary in many different ways, even in individuals who are the same chronological age (Gunderson, 2009). In addition, Cummins (1979a, 1979b, 1981, 1983, 2000) and Cummins and Swain (1986) argued there are two basic kinds of English a learner has to learn; â€Å"basic interpersonal communicative skill† [BICS] and â€Å"cognitive academic language proficiency† [CALP], the language of instruction and academic texts. BICS appears to take about 2 to 3 years to develop and CALP about 5 to 7. â€Å"Hello, how are you? and â€Å"What is your name† represent BICS, while â€Å"Identify a current controversial world political issue and develop and defend your position† is an example of CALP. Teachers are faced with the task of determining what learning activities and materials are appropriate for instruction and measurement of learning, while instituti ons such as universities and some governments are interested in determining whether or not an individual’s English ability is advanced enough for them to either enter a post-secondary program or to have the skills necessary to be integrated into a society and, therefore, be eligible to immigrate. Thus, in some instances, assessment serves to guide learning by informing teachers of students’ needs while in others it serves as a gatekeeper by excluding those who do not meet its standards. Instructional Levels—Determining Appropriate Instructional Strategies Language teachers have for some time opted to assess their students to ascertain their â€Å"level† of English language proficiency. The difficulty with the levels approach is that they do not really exist (Gunderson, 2009). A popular levels approach was developed in 1983 by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The assessment is a one-on-one assessment focusing primarily on oral language. Three levels of beginner, intermediate, and advanced are distinguished (see, ACTFL, 1983). A learner can be identified as a low beginner or a high intermediate, etc. The behaviors that determine inclusion in a particular group are usually described in an assessment matrix. The assessor asks a series of questions to elicit knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and pragmatics. The following is an example of a matrix developed by Gunderson (2009) showing oral language â€Å"levels† and their attendant features. * 0-Level English 1. Cannot answer even yes/no questions 2. Is unable to identify and name any object 3. Understands no English 4. Often appears withdrawn and afraid * Beginner 1. Responds to simple questions with mostly yes/no or one-word responses 2. Speaks in 1–2 word phrases 3. Attempts no extended conversations 4. Seldom, if ever, initiates conversations * Intermediate 1. Responds easily to simple questions 2. Produces simple sentences 3. Has difficulty elaborating when asked 4. Uses syntax/vocabulary adequate for personal, simple situations 5. Occasionally initiates conversations * Advanced 1. Speaks with ease 2. Initiates conversations 3. May make phonological or grammatical errors, which can then become fossilized 4. Makes errors in more syntactically complex utterances 5. Freely and easily switches codes More elaborate approaches involve the assessment of English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, e. g. , the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2007). The notion of levels is an important one for teachers because they are thought to predict a student’s probability of succeeding within a particular teaching and learning environment. A beginner is different from an intermediate in various ways, and the instruction they are involved in is also different. Teachers often refer to ESL students as Level 1 or Level 5, depending upon their performance on an assessment measure. The notion of levels varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some cases there are 3, 4, 5, 8, or 10 levels, which are determined most often by locally developed informal assessment measures (Gunderson Murphy Odo, 2010). Good assessment is essential to the design of appropriate instructional programs. The difficulty for classroom teachers is that there are few, if any, appropriate measures for them to use. Classroom Assessment Black and William (1998) reviewed more than 250 studies and found that there was a relationship between good classroom assessment and student performance. Most classroom-based assessment has been developed by teachers (Frisby, 2001; Wiggins, 1998). Unfortunately, most teachers report they are unprepared to assess and teach ESL students (Fradd Lee, 2001). According to Pierce (2002), the majority of teachers employ assessments they remember they were involved in when they were in school: multiple-choice, cloze-like measures, matching, and true/false tests. This seems to have been the pattern for 50 years (Bertrand, 1994). Unfortunately, it seems, â€Å"†¦ many teachers are unprepared for the special needs and complexities of fairly and appropriately assessing ELLs† (Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, Sun-Irminger, 2006, p. 24). Gunderson and Murphy Odo (2010) have recently reviewed the measures used by teachers in 12 local school districts to assess ESL students. The number of different measures and approaches in use was surprising. The Idea Proficiency Test (IPT) (see Ballard, Dalton, Tighe, 2001a, 2001b) was the measure most often used for primary level ESL students. Other assessments mentioned were the Brigance, (1983) the Bilingual Syntax Measure (Burt, Dulay, Hernandez, 1976), the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (Woodcock, various dates), the Woodcock-Munoz (Woodcock-Munoz-Sandoval, 1993), the Pre-IPT, the Comprehensive English Language Test (CELT; Harris Palmer, 1986), informal reading inventories, the Waddington Diagnostic Reading Inventory (Waddington, 2000), the Alberta Diagnostic Reading Inventory, the SLEP, the Gap (McLeod McLeod, 1990), PM Benchmarks (a system for placing students in leveled books), the RAD (Reading Achievement District—a local assessment measure), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT; Dunn Dunn, 1997), and a variety of locally developed listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments. A serious difficulty is that most of these measures were not designed to provide ESL instructional levels so different heuristics in different districts were developed to translate them into levels. The designation â€Å"beginner,† for instance, varies significantly across districts as a result of the measures involved and the number of levels districts chose to identify. Two school districts reported the development and norming of tests for elementary and secondary students comprised of leveled passages taken from academic textbooks that were transformed into maze passages (see Guthrie, Seifert, Burnham, Caplan, 1974). Scores from these measures were used to compute ESL levels; four in one case and five in the other. Interestingly, different metrics were used to compute instructional levels. So, for instance, a CELT score was used to determine ESL levels based on local intuition and experience. Most often the locally developed assessments involved one-on-one interviews in which students respond to tasks that require recognition of colors, body parts, school items, and the ability to answer simple questions (see, for example, Gunderson, 2009). There are also standardized assessments used by personnel at post-secondary institutions to make decisions concerning admissions to their programs. Predicting Academic Success The best known standardized English assessment measure is the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) published by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The publisher notes: In fact, more institutions accept TOEFL test cores than any other test scores in the world — more than 7,000 colleges, universities and licensing agencies in more than 130 countries, to be exact. (ETS, 2009a) There are different forms of the TOEFL. The classic paper-and-pencil form had standardized scores with 500 being the mean and 50 being the standard deviation. There are newer v ersions including a computer- and an Internet-based version that have different scoring criteria (see score comparison tables (ETS, 2009b)). The online version is based on a â€Å"communicative competence† model that requires learners to view clips of science lessons, for example, take notes, and respond to questions. TOEFL scores are used by post-secondary institutions to screen students for admission to their programs. The criteria for admission to programs varies from institution to institution and among departments in institutions (see, for instance, University of British Columbia, 2009). There is evidence that TOEFL scores are not highly predictive of success in university (Al-Musawi Al-Ansari, 1999), however, although they continue to be used to do so. ETS also produces the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and the Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP), both standardized assessment measures. The primary users of the SLEP are secondary teachers. The SLEP â€Å"measures the ability to understand spoken English,† and â€Å"the ability to understand written English† focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension (ETS, 2009c). The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test of English language proficiency developed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (2009). There are two versions: individuals who want to gain admission to a university in an English-speaking country take the academic version, while the other version is appropriate for trade schools and other purposes. Scores range from 1 to 9 with 1 being zero-level English, while 9 indicates native-like ability. Different universities require different IELTS scores to be eligible for admission. Both ETS and Cambridge have international centers around the world where students can take these tests. ELL assessment issues and standardized testing are procedures relevant to large-scale achievement testing in the United States. Large Scale or High-Stakes Testing According to Abedi, Hofstetter, and Lord (2004), â€Å"Historically, English language learners in the United States were excluded from participation in large-scale student assessment programs; there were concerns about the confounding influences of language proficiency and academic achievement† (p. 1). However, the United States has seen a focus on large-scale assessments due to the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (PL 107-110). No Child Left Behind permits assessing ELLs in their first language for up to 3 years, but few states do. In 2005 a group of school districts sued the state of California to force it to allow Spanish-speaking students to take state-mandated tests in Spanish. Plaintiffs in Coachella Valley Unified School District v. California argued that the state â€Å"violated its duty to provide valid and reliable academic testing† (King, 2007). On July 30, 2009, â€Å"The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected arguments by bilingual-education groups and nine school districts that English-only exams violate a federal law’s requirement that limited-English-speaking students ‘shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner’† (Egelko, 2009). A lawyer for the school districts and advocacy groups stated, The court dodges the essential issue in the lawsuit, which is: What is the testing supposed to measure? If you don’t have to evaluate the testing, California gets a free pass on testing kids (who) don’t speak English, using tests that they have literally no evidence of their validity. (Egelko, 2009) The ruling was that â€Å"The law does not authorize a court to act as â€Å"the official second-guesser† of the reliability of a state’s testing methods. † The difficulty is that English measures are neither reliable nor valid when ESL students are involved. In some cases, accommodations are made for them. The procedures of providing ELL students accommodations during assessment sessions varies across jurisdictions, but includes such activities as lengthening the time allowed to take a test, allowing ELLs to be tested in separate rooms, allowing students to use bilingual dictionaries, the use of two versions of the test at the same time written in English and students’ first languages, providing oral translations for students, and composing responses in first languages. In 1998–1999, 39 states reported using test accommodations (Rivera, Stansfield, Scialdone, Sharkey, 2000). There is considerable controversy about providing accommodations, however. At the time of the writing of this chapter, accommodating students through the provision of L1 assessments has been judged not to be required. ELLs, Assessment, and Technology Advances in technology have made it possible for assessments to be administered as computer- or Internet-based measures. These developments have already taken place with measures such as the TOEFL (see above). An increasing use of technology to administer standardized and non-standardized assessments has raised interest in issues relating to mode-effects (e. g. , computer displays versus print form) and familiarity with computers, which have significant implications for ELLs. There is evidence that performance in paper-based and computer-based modes of assessment may vary due to ethnicity or gender (Gallagher, Bridgeman, Cahalan, 2002). In addition, familiarity with computers is known to influence performance in writing (Horkay, Bennett, Allen, Kaplan, Yan, 2006) and mathematics (Bennett et al. , 2008) high-stakes tests. These issues need to be taken into consideration with ELLs particularly immigrant and refugee students. A related problem has to do with access. Indeed, access to computer and/or to the Internet is widely varied and, therefore, creates systematic differences in access. These are all areas that need further research. The State of the Art of ELL Assessment Research As noted above, the category ESL or ELL is deceptive in that it represents millions of human beings who vary in age, first-language development, English achievement (both interpersonal and academic), educational backgrounds, immigration status, motivation, socioeconomic background, cultural views of teaching and learning, professional backgrounds, and social and academic aspirations. It is not, therefore, possible to review the breadth and depth of available research in this chapter. There are, however, some overall generalizations that can be made. Generally, the assessment practices and approaches designed for and used with native English speakers have been adopted and used with ELL students. This phenomenon is especially apparent in jurisdictions such as the United States where high-stakes assessments have become so important. There are serious validity and reliability concerns associated with this practice. It is not clear that the notion of accommodation, one borrowed from special education, helps in either case. Leung and Lewkowicz (2008) argue that this â€Å"common educational treatment irrespective of differences in language backgrounds† (p. 305) is emblematic of the view that both treatment and assessment should be inclusive. It does not account, among other features, for cultural differences that can cause difficulties for ESL students (Fox, 2003; Fox Cheng, 2007; Norton Stein, 1998). Overall, English proficiency is a significant variable in ELL assessment. In addition to the BICS/CALP distinction mentioned above, Bailey (2005) proposes that there is a language of tests that is a different â€Å"register† or â€Å"discourse domain. † The use of such language creates a problem of â€Å"face validity. † Is the test actually testing what it is designed to test or is it a test of the language of tests? English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students around the world are assessed using many of the same measurements that are used to assess ELL students. EFL students are enrolled in programs in non-English contexts such as Japan where the language of the community is not English. They do not have ready access to native models of English that ELL students usually do. This is very much like the way students learn Latin in secondary school. It appears that EFL assessments are generally used to measure oral language ability such as the ACTFL mentioned previously. Our review of the assessment procedures and methods in use in K–12 schools in 12 school districts raised several issues that related to ESL learners’ assessment that were not found in studies such as Bertrand (1994), so we present them here. First, we found that there was a need for a measure that would discriminate students with language pathologies and/or learning disabilities from those who only needed English instruction. District members also expressed the need for a reliable measure to sort out secondary students’ content knowledge and their linguistic knowledge. Lastly, they contended that assessment should be developed to isolate ESL students’ specific areas of weakness so that teachers could more effectively use them to guide instruction. Summary and Conclusions The use ELL or ESL is unfortunate because it masks the underlying complexity of the human beings included in the category. ELL is inaccurate as a term because native English-speaking adults continue to be English language learners well into old age. Perceptions and pedagogical prescriptions are the most troubling aspects of the use of these terms. In article after article the ESL or ELL is used as though they represent a homogenous group of human beings. Pedagogical recommendations are made on the notion that they are a single group with the same skills and abilities. Of course, this is far from the truth. Our experience is that teachers use the term to represent all students who speak English as an additional language. In addition, they appear to perceive ESL students as human beings who have trouble learning to read (English). And this too, is far from the truth for some students, but not for others. ESL (ELL) is a term that should either be qualified when used or discarded as a general term. The assessment of ELL/ESL/EFL learners is a significant foundational process for teachers to determine the appropriate teaching and learning programs for their students from kindergarten to the mature adult level. ELL assessment traditionally includes measures of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. There are three basic kinds of assessment instruments. The first is purely instructional in that it is designed to indicate the level at which students should be placed for instruction. The second type of measure is designed to provide an estimate of proficiency related to norm groups and involves scores such as percentiles and NCEs. The third is designed to provide predictive information concerning how well a student will succeed academically. Unfortunately, it appears that most measures are based on native English models. Another difficulty is that students’ English proficiency has a profound effect on their ability to succeed on a test. It is often difficult for a student to succeed on a test when the language of the test is difficult or unknown to them. Some have noted that the language of tests is also unique. Recently, assessment measures have been computerized and some have been put on the Internet. This raises serious questions of access, especially for students from countries where access is difficult or non-existent. For example, we have been told that the cost of taking an online test in a country like Zimbabwe is prohibitive. Educators from many jurisdictions have borrowed the concept of accommodation from special education to make the assessment procedures fair to ELLs who differ in various ways from native English speakers. There is disagreement concerning the validity of test results as a result of accommodations since they are not often included in the norming procedures of the instruments. We have heard some opine that accommodation is not itself fair, and that the results of standardized assessment provide information about how well students will do in an English-speaking instructional setting. It has been recommended that assessment measures be constructed that are written in different first languages. Some have argued that the number of first languages in schools would make this an expensive and impractical approach. In July 2009 the use of English-only assessment measures was upheld in a federal appeals court in California. It is clear from a review of existing assessment practices that school-based personnel use a wide variety of instruments and procedures. It is also clear that there is the belief that it is important to identify a student’s â€Å"English level† for instructional purposes, but there is little agreement on how many levels should be identified. The precise process for determining a level is somewhat fuzzy, but it involves the interpretation of a variety of scores from a variety of tests. The research base concerning ELL assessment is not substantial. It focuses on measures originally designed for native English speakers. They do not do well generally on such measures. Indeed, they do not do well in school and a great number drops out, particularly from lower socioeconomic groups. The state of the art of assessment and instruction involving ELLs is extremely dire. The issues of ELL assessment needs urgent attention since ELLs are the most rapidly growing group in our schools. References ? 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