Assessment of English Learners and Their Peers in the Content Areas: Expanding What “Counts” as Evidence of Content Learning

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I argue for expanding what “counts” as evidence of content learning in the assessment of English learners (ELs) and their peers in the content areas. ELs bring expansive meaning-making resources to content classrooms that are valuable assets for meeting the ambitious learning goals of the latest K-12 education reform. Traditionally, however, the assessment of ELs in the content areas (e.g., science, language arts) has been pursued in restrictive ways, with a narrow focus on demonstrating learning through the written language modality and independent performance. This disconnect between the expansive meaning-making resources of ELs and the restrictive nature of content assessments limits ELs’ opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do and ultimately serves to perpetuate the deficit views of these students. I begin by providing contextual background on classroom assessment aligned to the latest standards in U.S. K-12 education. Then, I present two studies that illustrate two different expansive assessment approaches with ELs in elementary science: (a) multimodal assessment and (b) dynamic assessment. Finally, I highlight synergies of these studies with related research efforts across diverse contexts, toward the goal of developing a collective vision of expansive assessment that leverages ELs’ expansive ways of making meaning.