Caslon Publishing

Administrators and teachers need valid and reliable evidence of English language learners’ language development and academic achievement, and they need to use that evidence to drive their decisionmaking!

This groundbreaking book provides a field-tested approach to accountability for ELLs. Gottlieb and Nguyen propose the BASIC model, an acronym for Balanced Assessment and Accountability System, Inclusive and Comprehensive. This model is research-based and grounded in practice; it relies on multiple forms of assessment data and yields valid and reliable evidence of language learners’ growth and achievement over time.

This user-friendly guide models how to collect, analyze, and use evidence of students’ language development and academic achievement to:

Gottlieb and Nguyen show how teachers and administrators in a linguistically and culturally diverse school district collaborate in the design of assessment frameworks for their language education programs, and use evidence of student performance to drive their decisionmaking. This collaborative effort is brought to life through the voices of teachers, samples from student portfolios, and longitudinal data on program effectiveness.

The book includes worksheets that guide administrators and teachers’ efforts to develop and implement research-based assessment and accountability frameworks that are appropriate for their language education program (dual language, transitional bilingual, English as a second language/ESL).

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING: « click to expand/collapse

This wonderful book could not have appeared at a better time. We are most fortunate that Margo Gottlieb and Diep Nguyen have created a rational and durable framework for orchestrating the competing demands on educators for accountability, program improvement, and appropriate classroom instruction. They delineate the complex issues of assessment in linguistically diverse settings and adeptly address the different dimensions along which educators are asked to evaluate their students and their programs.

More importantly, they provide a blueprint for the creation of a comprehensive assessment system, gained through the application of their ideas in practice. Their work is predicated upon the premise that assessment is done at different levels for different purposes, all of which are valid. There is not a hierarchy in which some are the real or most important assessments, but rather the different dimensions function in a dynamic relationship that is constantly evolving…
– From the Foreword, by Nancy Commins, University of Colorado at Denver.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: « click to expand/collapse

1. Assessment and Accountability in Language Education Programs: National and Local Perspectives
2. The BASIC Model for Language Education Programs
3. Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Framework for Your Language Education Program
4. Using the Pivotal Portfolio to Profile Student Learning
5. Using Evidence to Drive Decision making in Dual Language Programs
6. Using Evidence to Drive Decision making in Transitional Bilingual Programs
7. Developing an Evaluation Framework for Language Education Programs
8. Making It Work in your Language Education Program: Lessons from the Field

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: « click to expand/collapse

Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized specialist in the design of assessments for English language learners in pre-K-12 settings, the evaluation of language education programs, and the development of English language proficiency standards. She is the Director of Assessment and Evaluation at the Illinois Resource Center and Lead Developer for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA), a multi-state consortium. Her latest publications include Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges from Language Proficiency to Academic Achievement (2007) and The ELL Assessment Kit (2007).

Diep Nguyen, Ph.D., is an award winning administrator and practitioners. She is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services of Des Plaines School District 62 in Illinois. From 1994-2006 she served as the Director of Bilingual/Multicultural Programs of Schaumburg School District 54 in Illinois, the case study featured in this book. She has conducted action-oriented ethnographic studies on the role of bilingual instructional aides and on the perceptions of literacy and bilingual/ESL teachers and community members about the educational needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students. She is a frequent presenter at national and state bilingual and TESOL conferences.