Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind: Key points of Unit 6

The sixth unit of the Coursera Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind course focused on a review of the previous five units. The differences between formative and summative assessment, the advantages of rubrics, as well as the features of project-based learning, are all familiar to most mainstream teachers, so they will not be included in the summary below.

Instead, what follows is a brief synthesis of the most important information and advice relating specifically to the assessment of ESL students in the mainstream class.

Note 1: The left column below is a brief summary of the key points of the Coursera unit. The right column contains my suggested links to further information and advice on the same content.
Note 2: ELL = English language learner. The corresponding acronym used elsewhere on this site is ESL student = English as a second language student. [ More ]

Unit 6: Course Review

Fair and meaningful assessment of ESL students

Some ESL students have little chance of showing what they understand, have learned and can do if they are assessed (either formatively or summatively) in the same way as the English-proficient students in the class.

Their difficulties may be with input (understanding what they have to do) or output (producing what the assessment task requires of them).

There are three main ways to give ESL students the best chance of demonstrating their knowledge and skills:

  • Modify the instructions of the assessment tasks so that the language is comprehensible (input).
  • Offer an alternative assessment which reduces the need to produce English (output).
  • Make other accommodations such as allowing more time or answers in the mother tongue.

Points to note:

  • The ESL teachers can advise on the linguistic comprehensibility of assessments and adapt them if desired.
  • They can also suggest or create alternative assessments, and advise on appropriate accommodations.

More on fair and meaningful assessment of ESL students

Assessing ESL students in the subject classroom

An overview of the various issues, a page elsewhere on this website. It also contains links to other resources on the same topic.

Preparing ESL-friendly worksheets and tests

Another page on this site with information on how to identify language difficulties in assessments and modify text to make it more comprehensible to ESL students.

How should I grade my ESL students?

From the Teachers FAQ page elsewhere on this site. It has brief advice and links to more information.