Exploring assessment of students from different language backgrounds |
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| Authors: | Keri-Anne Croce |
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| Institution: | Assistant Professor, Elementary Education Department, Towson University |
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| Abstract: | Within the United States, a priority has been placed on the area of reading assessment as mandated by the US Department of Education (2004) . Confusion still exists as to how to assess students who are not being taught in their native languages ( Wright and Choi 2006 ). Solorzano (2008) concludes that standardised tests are not appropriate for non-native language speakers. This debate continues to occur on a global level ( Wyse and Styles 2007 , Edwards and Potts 2008 ) and speaks to a need for research that investigates reading assessments used with non-native speakers. The research within this article contributes to a larger discussion of the use of assessments with non-native and native language speakers. The article presents the results of a study that took place at a kindergarten through eighth grade elementary school in central Arizona. The study investigated how six students from various language backgrounds made meaning of informational texts over the course of a year. It proposes that teachers need to be allowed to teach and assess each student based on his or her strengths and needs. |
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| Keywords: | assessment of reading comprehension reading informational texts language instruction meaning making |
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