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Case: Is it possible to set academic assessment expectations for ESL students Mrs. Marcus had implemented the latest idea in educational assessment. She had studied and prepared for the introduction of portfolio assessment into her seventh grade classroom. The students, including her ESL (English as a Second Language) students, were excited about collecting their work in their very own portfolios. Mrs. Marcus explained to her students that their portfolios would be evaluated and shared with parents during conferences. After a few weeks of working on important assignments, students were allowed to organize their portfolios and enter their work. Mrs. Marcus informed the students of her specific academic expectations on each assignment. Unfortunately, she encountered some difficulties when evaluating the students' portfolios. She observed that her grading guidelines did not accommodate her ESL students. The second language learners were not meeting her expectations in the area of grammar and punctuation on the assignments. Mrs. Marcus realized that she had not taken into consideration the varied language acquisition stages of the ESL students. Questions: 1. Should Mrs. Marcus return to her conventional assessment methods? 2. How can portfolios meet the needs of all students? 3. Is it possible to set academic assessment expectations for ESL students who have not yet acquired their new language? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) 1. I absolutely do not think Mrs. Marcus should return to her conventional assessment methods. Portfolios are great tools for students to learn to evaluate their own work. In most cases, students choose the work that goes into their portfolio. This is also a motivational tool. The students want to do their best work so it can be displayed in their own personal portfolio. Portfolios are also a good way to track student growth, as well as evaluating the student's as a whole. Mrs. Marcus should not return to her conventional methods. 2. Students are all different. Portfolios can be done on an individual basis. Students can have different assignments than their classmates in their portfolios. Students who needs to work on writing a formal letter for example, could write a letter at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year to evaluate growth. Another student may be working on a math project for their portfolio. It all depends on what the student needs to improve. 3. It is possible to set separate academic assessment expectations for ESL students. ESL students could work on grammar and punctuation as the emphasis of their portfolio. The assignments should also be modified to meet the needs of these students as necessary. Therefore, for those modifications, you would have a different rubric. Assignments should be modified for ESL learners. Key words should be highlighted and fully defined, longer sentences should be broken into two or more sentences, and any culturally bound terms should be omitted or replaced with more common terms. |
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