Ashley Kunkle

Assessment of English Learners

Professor Perry
Assignment 3- SIOP Assessment Strategies
Assessments are an imperative component of being a teacher. Sometimes,
assessments get a bad rap because we focus so much on standardized testing, especially
after the No Child Left Behind movement. Even with this negative stigma, assessments
are necessary, not only the summative assessments, but also and more importantly, the
formative assessments. Formative assessments, when implemented correctly can gauge
student learning and provide direction to further instruction.
In Chapter 9 of Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners, by
Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, we are introduced to three different types of teachers. All
three have EL students and all three used assessment in varying manners. As the accounts
unfolded, it was clear that when a teacher uses review, feedback, and assessment
effectively, the results could be great.
The first teacher Miss Johnston, for lack of better wording, really needed some
help. Her flaws started even before the lesson began. Miss Johnstons goal for the lesson
was: The learner will understand how mummies were made (230). This is a VERY
broad learning objective. As stated in the ELA and ELD Framework, teachers [should
be] clear about the short-term learning goals, e.g. for a lesson (830). This did not happen
in Miss Johnstons class. First, to understand is not measurable. There is no outcome
stated to show HOW the students will understand about mummies. The rest of her
mistakes/inexperience was displayed throughout the lesson. During her review of the
materials, she did push students to remember more about their reading. However, she did
not ask them to use specific language. This is a mistake because by encouraging students
to use the new vocabulary, a teacher provides another exposure to the words and it gives
the students a chance to try and use the new words correctly. This simple reminder can
help ELs expand their vocabulary and practice oral fluency, yet this was missing in her
lesson. I also think she fell short with her types of assessments. As an EL student with no
background on the topic (except for the day before) she should have never given the
students a FILL IN THE BLANK or an ESSAY! EL students most likely have not
acquired the new vocabulary and therefore, are set up to fail the fill in the blank
assessment. In addition, students who have a hard time articulating new information into
their own ideas should not be asked to INDEPENDENTLY write an essay. They should
be given time to discuss and learn the ins and outs of the material. Although she did have
students review a peers paper, how does this assessment done by the students help them?
How does it help her assess the understanding of her students? Also, pointed out by
Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, only after she collected the papers- after the class had
ended- would she have a sense of what the students had learned (235). This is
assessment being used in the incorrect manner. Unless she grades the essays all in one
night and then creates her lesson plan, this assessment is not being used to further
instruction.
The second teacher, Mr. Hughell did a slightly better job of using formative
assessments in his lesson. First, his lesson objective were much more clear. He did a good
job of being clear about the success criteria for the lesson goal (ELA/ELD Framework,

830) by listed exactly what students would be expected to do: match vocabulary, explain,
and write a paragraph (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, 228). I liked how he had the students
share and conduct a review from the previous day. He asked for volunteers and gave the
students an opportunity to talk and practice oral language developmentif they wanted
and volunteered. I also like how the students worked alone, with groups, and participated
in class discussions. I felt this was really missing from Miss Johnstons lesson. He fell
short a little due to time constraints. Students were not able to finish all of the tasks;
therefore he couldnt complete the full assessment of their knowledge on mummies. This
also hinders his development for instruction. Another part I did not like was Mr. Hughell
gave the students a vocabulary list to memorize and use. This is not the best method to
implement for EL students. It does not give them enough interactions with the words and
they have a difficult time memorizing a list with no context. To improve this lesson, he
could have the list posted in the classroom and then challenge students to use the words
when speaking on the topic. Unfortunately, I feel that a lot of times, this is how my
lessons look when it comes to assessments. I run out of time in class or some activities
take longer. I feel like Im good at minute-to-minute assessments as the students discuss
the topics for the day, but I get lost in the classroom management. I also do not have the
best grasp on making objectives for language development. Reading through Mr.
Hughells lesson helped me see many things I can change in my own lesson to become
like Mr. Tran.
Finally, we have the cream of the cropMr. Tran. I gave Mr. Tran all fours on the
SIOP rubric. His lesson made me feel like an insanely amateur teacher, but now it also
gave me ideas for improvement. The first thing I liked about Mr. Trans lesson was his
objectives. I liked how his objectives pinpointed the skills he wanted to assess for each
day of the observation. He specifically identified the language skills in his objective
which really supports learning for EL students. I also like how he gave his students a
focal question after they reviewed the previous material. I think this helps the students
see where they have been and see where they are going during the lesson. Mr. Tran also
used a wide variety of assessments. My favorite was how students gave feedback on their
peers graphic organizers and then helped improve each others work. I liked this because
it would make EL students feel more confident and take ownership of their work because
they have had the time to collaborate with someone. This isnt the only for a review he
does with the class. In al, he conducts four different review activities, all of which cover
the previous days material. This gives EL students the opportunity to interact with the
information on many different levels. The reviews also give them a chance to use the new
vocabulary words many more times than using in once in a sentence like Mr. Hughell. As
stated in the ELA/ELD Framework, ELs at the Emerging level of English language
proficiency may find it difficult to respond to a questionwith the same level of detail as
that are able to in their primary language (831). By reminding the students of the
vocabulary and narrowing down the number of words, Mr. Tran has given the students
the opportunity to grow their vocabulary and still feel comfortable. I also like how Mr.
Tran continually walked around the room and provided help, feedback, and did
observations. This type of quick assessment is what helps me further my instruction. Just
yesterday, as my students were identifying one part of plot in a story, I noticed some
students were highlighting an area of the story that did not relate to their part of plot at
all. This made me realize they needed a little more practice, so the following day I

reviewed the parts of plot with the whole class and then the students taught one part of
plot to their group. Without the minute-to-minute assessments, I have no clue how I
would figure out what my students need to be successful. Lastly, I like how Mr. Tran used
the same type of activity two times. This repetition helps ELs understand the task at
hand. Once they have done the task a few times, it is much easier for them to complete
because they know what is expected of them.
In conclusion, all of the teachers used assessments, because it is a necessary part
of teaching! We, as teachers just need to look further into our assessments. We need to
find the validity of our assessments, making sure they benefit our students and our
instruction instead of being menial tasks.

Works Cited
Echevarria, Jana, and Vogt, and Short. Making Content Comprehensible for English
Learners. Pearson Education Inc, 2013. Print.
English Language Arts/ English Language Development Framework. Sacramento:
California Department of Education, 2014. Print.