Should we expand or diminish the role of assessment for multilingual learners?

In?the report?A New Era of Educational Assessment,?it is?argued that?policymakers and practitioners?should abandon the piecemeal state of assessment?that privileges?standardized test?scores?of?literacy?and numeracy.?As an alternative, the?commentary?proposes?the?adoption of?an?assessment?model?that is?better?aligned to?teaching and learning.?

While?this?intention may?seem?laudable, the process of developing a?comprehensive cohesive?assessment?system?is a complex undertaking.?The question then becomes?should?student success?support a?narrow?or?broad?definition of?assessment?and?whichever?the?choice, how can it be?inclusive of major stakeholder groups??

If?testing?(rather than assessment)?continues to prevail?as what ‘counts’,?and?schools measure?multilingual?learners’?progress from only a?restricted?accountability perspective-?that is?from?score to score-?without?considering?the other purposes, audiences,?and contexts?for?assessment, what?ultimately?serves?as evidence of learning??

On the other hand, if?we shift our view?of?assessment?to reflect?a?teaching?and learning paradigm,?can?we?then?broaden the?reporting?of what?our?students?can?accomplish??

Let’s explore three of?the?many ways classroom assessment can?be?infused into?a system?that is?more?representative?of?and equitable for?multilingual learners:?

1) Enlighten and empower the educational community through assessment?literacy.?

Assessment literacy?is a?wide-ranging?concept?that applies across content areas and stakeholders.?For?educators,?it?entails?planning,?gathering,?interpreting, and using?data?to?enhance instructional practices.?For?students, assessment literacy centers on?building their?capacity to?own,?advance, and serve?as agents of?their?own?learning; for?multilingual learners,?it also?extends?their?horizons?to represent?multiple languages and cultures.?For?families,?assessment literacy entails gaining?familiarity?with the reasoning behind assessment?practices?as a?means of galvanizing?connections?between home?and school.?

2) Embed?assessment?as, for, and?of?learning?into curriculum to gain an?expansive view?of student engagement?in one or more?languages.??

Assessment?can be?powerful?when it is?integrated into?curriculum?and students have input?its design.?Envisioning?three approaches-?assessment?as?learning,?where?students?interact with each other,?and assessment?for?learning,?where?students?act on concrete?teacher?or?peer?feedback,?as steppingstones?to assessment?of?learning,?where students produce?culminating?projects-?encourages?student?engagement?throughout the process.?Additionally, to meet?overall?unit-level?expectations?and standards,?teachers?should leverage?multilingual learners’?linguistic and cultural assets?within?grade-level?content?that is?accessible?to them?in?multiple?languages.

3) Ensure that instruction and?ongoing?classroom assessment are seamless, purposeful,?and meaningful.??

Classroom?assessment?should?be?student-driven where?multilingual learners?strive to become?autonomous self-regulated learners who?contribute to?classroom?decision making.?For example,?multilingual learners?can?seek diverse perspectives from?peers or choose?multimodal pathways?of learning.?When?students?interact with each other,?(co)construct models,?or?use?digital resources,?teachers?can?assess?learning firsthand?through?observation. When?students?pursue?expertise from?family members?to?meet?an agreed upon?set of?performance?descriptors, classroom assessment?becomes?blended?into and inseparable from?instruction.??

Students’ academic?success?should rest on the integration of and the flow among?curriculum, instruction and assessment?where?action?is taken?to?safeguard?multilingual learners’ languages, cultures, and identities. Together,?assessment?as, for, and?of?learning offer?the potential for?creating?a balanced?dynamic?system in which?multilingual learners, their?teachers, and other?educational leaders?are?vested?and?have?a sense of self-efficacy.??

Now it’s your turn!?Which of the following two scenarios would you choose and why??Share your thoughts in comments section below.

Scenario?one?aligns with?the?position that?assessment?for multilingual learners detracts from instructional time;?in fact,?it?is?considered?externally imposed?upon?and?alien?to?everyday classroom routines.?Therefore,?assessment- in particular,?testing-?should?diminish in?importance and?scope?within the classroom context.??

Scenario?two?views?assessment?for multilingual learners?as an expression of curriculum and instruction?that?is?internal to the classroom?culture.?Therefore,?the role of classroom?assessment?should expand?to ensure?the?participation of?a range of?stakeholders?and serve as?a?barometer?of?effective?teaching and learning.??

Today’s question comes from a dilemma posed in Gottlieb’s companion books,?Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages: A Handbook for Teachers?and?Assessment in Multiple Languages: A Handbook for School and District Leaders??

Margo Gottlieb has devoted her professional career to improving educational opportunities for multilingual learners. In this limited blog series, Margo delves into “Multilingual Mysteries”?around the topic of classroom assessment. Every other week, she poses different scenarios to readers to consider and then choose.