This District of Columbia Public Schools School Year 2024-2025 "Parental Right to Know Guide" informs parents on their rights with regard to the following: (1) Notice of Non-Discrimination and Non-Retaliation; (2) Teachers and Paraprofessionals; (3) Student Achievement (DC CAPE Data); (4) Student Records; (5) Unsafe School Choice Option;…

This book offers an evidence-based guide to EAL for everyone who works with multilingual learners. It provides a concise, helpful introduction to the latest research underpinning three key areas of EAL practice: (1) How children acquire additional languages? (2) How language works across the curriculum? and (3) How you can establish outstanding…

In recent years, education data have become both more easily accessible and more important than ever to decisions about K-12 policies and practice. Under the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA), states are required to publish data on how students, including English Learners (ELs), are performing in areas such as reading, math, and…

Commissioner's Rules Concerning the State Plan for Educating English Language Learners (ELLs) states that all school districts that are required to provide bilingual education and/or English as a second language (ESL) programs establish and operate a Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC). The LPACs are charged with reviewing all…

Students continually ask, "Does this count?" "Is this on the test?" They want to know how they'll be evaluated. Discover how to answer these questions in ways that shape student learning and keep teaching focused on what really matters. Written by language expert Paul Sandrock, this superb manual clarifies precisely what…

This is a set of generic proficiency goals in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and culture developed for all languages and for French, German, and Spanish specifically. Both the common and specific goals are being field tested to determine their utility for college and university language instructors. In addition, a questionnaire has been…

This handbook outlines procedures for placing recent immigrants into linguistically comprehensible school programs at Ocean View Junior High School (Oxnard, California). First, a chart is presented which breaks down the placement process into three stages (identification, assessment, and placement) and identifies the site or person responsible at…

The ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners expand on the second language proficiency guidelines established in 1982 by focusing on second language use by students who participate in elementary, middle, and high school foreign language programs. Unlike adult language users, K-12…

This guide briefly discusses the uses, strengths, and limitations of various assessment instruments in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes for adults. The types of instruments selected for discussion are limited to those that are used in Adult Education Cooperatives in Texas, or those that are readily available to those cooperatives. The…

The Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) field continues to experience increased valuing of experiential practitioner knowledge. A welcome result of this evolution has been the broadening of research perspectives. The 16 practitioner narratives in "Insights on Teaching Speaking in TESOL" are written by…

The steps in the manual are designed to ensure that developmentally normal limited English proficiency (LEP) students are properly placed and to increase the validity of the special education referral-assessment-placement system. The construct of LEP is explained, and procedures for selecting two language proficiency tests are outlined. Criteria…

Discusses the importance of appropriate proficiency-oriented testing for students studying foreign languages, explaining that grammatical accuracy is of no value if it cannot be used to carry out real-life tasks as an inherent and natural activity. Presents guidelines for designing and administering tests and provides an example of a…

"CLASS Professional Standards" is a resource for Chinese teachers, foreign language specialists, school administrators, parents, and policy makers who recognize the importance of Chinese cultures taught by professional teachers of Chinese. The release of the book also marks the celebration of the Chinese Language Association of…

A discussion of language proficiency focuses on the conceptual framework for assessing proficiency and its implications for educational policy formation at the state and local levels. First, the concept of language is defined in terms of the interaction of these elements: language subsystems, communication skills, language domains, language…

This paper discusses assessing the oral communication skills of non-native speakers of English enrolled in pre-vocational programs at Golden West College (California), presents the locally developed assessment instrument, and discusses multicultural communication intervention strategies educators can use to empower students. The first part of the…