Yesterday I gave an update on the most important changes to the CELDT in a while.
Read the following in case you want a refresher on the CELDT and a little info on the upcoming school year:
CELDT_101
- W
About Me
- Weezy
- I am an extrovert by nature and an introspect when necessary. I enjoy life and do not take it for granted. My passion is to help educators become more effective at what they do, not only through changing practices, but changing assumptions about the students they teach- particularly, students of color, Standard English Leaners, English Language learners and all others who have been systematically denied access to core curriculum and subjugated to low expectations.
Showing posts with label CELDT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CELDT. Show all posts
05 August 2009
14 July 2008
"Stuck"
Seems that word struck a cord in me.
It is the reality that many, many, MANY of our English Learners get stuck upon reaching the intermediate proficiency level- the Level 3 "ceiling."
Why do they "get stuck?"
Most teachers greet ELLs in the Beginning stage with a mixed sense of fear, excitement and dread. And yet, students at this stage, despite exhibiting an equal mix of these, also manage to follow the steps uncovered by research in second language acquisition. (I promise I'll address this more in future entries.) For now, ELLs go through a predicted "silent period," followed by a greater sense of comfort and initial absorption of simple English constructions. So students learn "playground English" and are chattering away with friends and seem to be progressing just fine...all the way to level 3.
But, the ELL is still on the second language learning journey. And it turns out- it's a long one. A 5-7 year one to be a little more exact.
So what happens?
Well, reality hits- for the student. Playground English takes the student only so far. Reality hits- for the teacher as well. The "good" teacher recognizes that Academic English needs to be taught. Unfortunately, in most places, until relatively recently, there has been little attention paid to curriculum that addresses the needs of these students so that they can access Academic English. The less aware teacher may think the student is actually progressing, and either: increase the load/complexity of English, losing the student or simply meet the student at the level he/she seems to be operating...and not exposing the student to a good model of Academic English at all.
The result?
The vast majority of our ELLs are stuck in an intermediate stage. They move up the grades without explicit instruction in the nuances, forms and functions of the language. And they stay stuck all the way through high school.
And then society attributes this "lack of wanting to learn" or "cultural disinclination for schooling" or what-have-you to these students, and not to what we've done to fail them. Or to put it a different way, what we have NOT done to pry them out of the Level 3 quicksand trap.
But before we go there, I think we need to understand a little about second language acquisition, English Language Development, and other fun things!
Stay tuned...
It is the reality that many, many, MANY of our English Learners get stuck upon reaching the intermediate proficiency level- the Level 3 "ceiling."
Why do they "get stuck?"
Most teachers greet ELLs in the Beginning stage with a mixed sense of fear, excitement and dread. And yet, students at this stage, despite exhibiting an equal mix of these, also manage to follow the steps uncovered by research in second language acquisition. (I promise I'll address this more in future entries.) For now, ELLs go through a predicted "silent period," followed by a greater sense of comfort and initial absorption of simple English constructions. So students learn "playground English" and are chattering away with friends and seem to be progressing just fine...all the way to level 3.
But, the ELL is still on the second language learning journey. And it turns out- it's a long one. A 5-7 year one to be a little more exact.
So what happens?
Well, reality hits- for the student. Playground English takes the student only so far. Reality hits- for the teacher as well. The "good" teacher recognizes that Academic English needs to be taught. Unfortunately, in most places, until relatively recently, there has been little attention paid to curriculum that addresses the needs of these students so that they can access Academic English. The less aware teacher may think the student is actually progressing, and either: increase the load/complexity of English, losing the student or simply meet the student at the level he/she seems to be operating...and not exposing the student to a good model of Academic English at all.
The result?
The vast majority of our ELLs are stuck in an intermediate stage. They move up the grades without explicit instruction in the nuances, forms and functions of the language. And they stay stuck all the way through high school.
And then society attributes this "lack of wanting to learn" or "cultural disinclination for schooling" or what-have-you to these students, and not to what we've done to fail them. Or to put it a different way, what we have NOT done to pry them out of the Level 3 quicksand trap.
But before we go there, I think we need to understand a little about second language acquisition, English Language Development, and other fun things!
Stay tuned...
09 July 2008
CELDT- Time for a Close-up...!
Ok, so self-identified non-English speaking children are given the CELDT...now what...
The 4 domains of Literacy
Quick note on these. Everyone knows them already- they just sound more "academic" when described this way. They are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Coincidentally, each of these is assessed by the CELDT (although listening and speaking are combined).
The 4 Domains on the CELDT
So we have an exam broken up into sections by domain. Students are given a certain number of points when answers are correct. Raw scores are then tabulated, and then scaled. So they turn from a number that has less meaning to one that has more- one that compares the student to others based on a scale. While only the test publisher's score is official, many districts calculate the scale score because after all, we want to ensure this information will help teachers make informed decisions.
That's where the different levels come in.
The 5 Levels of English Proficiency
We start with the Beginner continue with Early Intermediate, then Intermediate. These three levels represent the "true" ELL. In California, it is expected that each student move one proficiency level per school year. So ideally, the kindergartner who starts as a beginner will be ready to leave ELL status behind by 3rd grade. Ideally. Beyond these three, we have Early Advanced, and Advanced.
And just to complicate things a bit, remember those scores? Well, these translate into a proficiency level in each domain. There is also an overall score that is calculated.
Next time: what does each proficiency level "look like?"
The 4 domains of Literacy
Quick note on these. Everyone knows them already- they just sound more "academic" when described this way. They are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Coincidentally, each of these is assessed by the CELDT (although listening and speaking are combined).
The 4 Domains on the CELDT
So we have an exam broken up into sections by domain. Students are given a certain number of points when answers are correct. Raw scores are then tabulated, and then scaled. So they turn from a number that has less meaning to one that has more- one that compares the student to others based on a scale. While only the test publisher's score is official, many districts calculate the scale score because after all, we want to ensure this information will help teachers make informed decisions.
That's where the different levels come in.
The 5 Levels of English Proficiency
We start with the Beginner continue with Early Intermediate, then Intermediate. These three levels represent the "true" ELL. In California, it is expected that each student move one proficiency level per school year. So ideally, the kindergartner who starts as a beginner will be ready to leave ELL status behind by 3rd grade. Ideally. Beyond these three, we have Early Advanced, and Advanced.
And just to complicate things a bit, remember those scores? Well, these translate into a proficiency level in each domain. There is also an overall score that is calculated.
Next time: what does each proficiency level "look like?"
08 July 2008
How do we know what the needs of ELLs are?
Welcome back educators and all...
Before even starting to be able to talk about how to get English Learners what they need, we need to identify the needs of these English learners in relation to some goal or benchmark they need to attain in order to fully access the core curriculum taught in a typical, mainstream classroom. Enter that vile word for some teachers, a misunderstood word for most others: assessment
The CELDT (California English Language Development Test)
In California, we have developed a holy grail of assessments- okay it's not really- but it has been improved recently and the newer edition will roll out this coming school year. But I digress...
Without boring anyone, the CELDT is an assessment that serves to identify which of our incoming students are English Learners. It is given once a year to students new to CA schools.
For a quick and easy primer on the CELDT here's a good place to visit:
http://www.sandi.net/testingunit/pdf/celdtptbroch07.pdf
That is a good starting point, and unfortunately, where we stop as well. After all, from an instructional point of view, it is even more useful to measure and continually monitor the English proficiency of an English learner. CELDT is a summative snapshot, a one time deal.
So how do we REALLY make CELDT work for us?
Well, since most districts do not have formative assessments to continually monitor the growth and development of an ELL's level of English proficiency, we also use the CELDT results as an attempt to take that "snapshot" of an ELL's proficiency in all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing as a starting point. And that is how we start to identify different types of English learners- along a continuum of developing English proficiency.
We'll move along the continuum next time...
But a quick note on who takes the CELDT before we go...
Well the short answer of course is English Learners. But these are determined through completion of a "Home Language Survey," which ideally is done at the time of registration. Different districts handle these in different ways but generally, families are asked to identify the language(s) spoken at home. If a non-English language is spoken, that student is required to have his/her language proficiency assessed- via the CELDT of course.
For an example of how one district goes through this process (and then some) watch this video:
Till next time!
Before even starting to be able to talk about how to get English Learners what they need, we need to identify the needs of these English learners in relation to some goal or benchmark they need to attain in order to fully access the core curriculum taught in a typical, mainstream classroom. Enter that vile word for some teachers, a misunderstood word for most others: assessment
The CELDT (California English Language Development Test)
In California, we have developed a holy grail of assessments- okay it's not really- but it has been improved recently and the newer edition will roll out this coming school year. But I digress...
Without boring anyone, the CELDT is an assessment that serves to identify which of our incoming students are English Learners. It is given once a year to students new to CA schools.
For a quick and easy primer on the CELDT here's a good place to visit:
http://www.sandi.net/testingunit/pdf/celdtptbroch07.pdf
That is a good starting point, and unfortunately, where we stop as well. After all, from an instructional point of view, it is even more useful to measure and continually monitor the English proficiency of an English learner. CELDT is a summative snapshot, a one time deal.
So how do we REALLY make CELDT work for us?
Well, since most districts do not have formative assessments to continually monitor the growth and development of an ELL's level of English proficiency, we also use the CELDT results as an attempt to take that "snapshot" of an ELL's proficiency in all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing as a starting point. And that is how we start to identify different types of English learners- along a continuum of developing English proficiency.
We'll move along the continuum next time...
But a quick note on who takes the CELDT before we go...
Well the short answer of course is English Learners. But these are determined through completion of a "Home Language Survey," which ideally is done at the time of registration. Different districts handle these in different ways but generally, families are asked to identify the language(s) spoken at home. If a non-English language is spoken, that student is required to have his/her language proficiency assessed- via the CELDT of course.
For an example of how one district goes through this process (and then some) watch this video:
Till next time!
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