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Initial Assessment

Teacher Resources

Online Resources | Practical Examples | Proficiency Testing

Online Resources

Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium

  http://www.maec.org/

The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, one of ten regional equity assistance centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provides expertise on equity issues relating to race, gender, and national origin.

Multicultural Awareness

  http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/enews/outlook/2002/01.htm#PRACTICE

Jim Estes addresses the importance of "Multicultural Competencies for a New World" as part of the Preparing All Administrators, Counselors, and Teachers to Educate Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students (PAACT) Faculty Project at George Washington University.

Resource Materials for Planning and Self-Assessments

  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/index.html

The Office of Civil Rights has developed extensive guidelines on "Programs for English Language Learners."

Socio-Cultural Awareness for Educators

  http://www.nald.ca/province/nb/tesl/guide3.htm

The New Brunswick Department of Education discusses the importance of socio-cultural awareness in a resource guide for teachers of English language learners.

Suggestions for Using Interpreters

   http://www.med.umich.edu/pteducation/intrepret.htm

The University of Michigan Health System offers practical advice for working with a foreign language interpreter.

Practical Examples

Home Language Surveys

  http://www.sd01.k12.id.us/ell/forms/english_homelang.pdf

This sample home language survey is from the Boise School District in Idaho.

  http://www.state.vt.us/educ/new/html/pgm_esl.html

The home language survey for the state of Vermont may be downloaded in both PDF and Word formats from this page.

  http://www.cesa7.k12.wi.us/schooolimprove/networks/
ell%20network/Home%20Language%20Survey.htm

This example is from the CESA 7 School Improvement Services department in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Informal Assessment Methods:

  http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/levels/
runrecord/runrec.html

Readinga-z.com explains running record guidelines and offers other assessment tips and resources.

  http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=storytelling%20rubrics%20site%3Awww.jefferson.kyschools.us&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jefferson.kyschools.us%2FDepartments%2FPlanning%2FSchoolPlanningSite%2Fsbelemstrat.pdf&ei=10OhT-DCEIrqgQezwo2nCQ&usg=AFQjCNFmwU7q4cEEpHUy6V5N59NZDbkEaA&cad=rja

Story retelling rubrics are used by the Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado as part of developmental reading assessment.

  http://www.louisianavoices.org/Unit5/
edu_unit5w_story_retelling.html

The Louisiana Division of the Arts uses another story retelling rubric as a tool to cultivate the oral tradition of folktales.

Sample Procedures for ELL Identification and Assessment:

  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/
ocr/ell/identification.html

The Office of Civil Rights provides specific information on the "Identification of Potential ELL Students."

  http://www.maec.org/dc/lep.html

Dr. Frank L. Smith, Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, describes "Procedures for the Identification, Assessment, and Placement of Language Minority Students."

  http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction presents guidelines for the identification and assessment of English language learners.

Proficiency Testing

Annotated Bibliography of Language Proficiency Tests

  http://positivepractices.com/BilingualEducation/
LanguageProficiencyTestsA.html

Presented by the Center for Positive Practices.

Language Proficiency Tests: The following resources include the major tests that are most commonly used in the U.S.

  https://www.ballard-tighe.com/

Idea Proficiency Test (IPT)

  http://www.ctb.com/

Language Assessment Scales (LAS)

  http://www.tasaliteracy.com/

MAC II Test of English Language Proficiency

  http://assess.nelson.com/test-ind/wmls.html

Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey 2001

  http://www.ets.org/tests/stest.html#S050

Secondary Level English Proficiency Test (SLEP)

Checklist for English Language Proficiency Test Selection

  http://www.helpforschools.com/ELLKBase/checklists/
ChecklistEngLangProfTestSel.shtml

This useful tool is available through the English Language Learner KnowledgeBase, a project of the Region VII Comprehensive Center and Northrop Grumman Information Technology.

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