The ELL population is rapidly growing, and it is important that teachers are equipped and ready to teach and assess these ELLs. Assessing ELLs is important because the assessments tell teachers how to make instructional decisions, and how much the child knows and can do (Lenski. 2006, P. 25). It is important for teachers to make sure that the ELL students are continually developing English competence and acquiring content knowledge. Because of the No Child Left Behind act, there are assessment mandates that all teacher must follow, like the Title 1 that requires ELLs attending public schools to be assessed in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and they must also be included in statewide standardized testing. The ELLs are at a disadvantage …show more content…
I found that it is important that I assess ELL students when they come into to my classroom because I need to know what that ELL student already knows, so that I can effectively understand how to move on instructing and assessing the ELL student (Lenski. 2006, P. 25). This article has also taught me that it is important to include parents in their child’s education. Parents can help in completing predictability logs, which can be very useful for me to use when figuring out how much the child already knows. The predictability log will help me to understand the ELL’s prior literacy experiences (Lenski. 2006, P. 26). Parents can also help their child by participating in collaborative assessment assignments. I think the collaborative assessment assignments are important because they get the parents involved in the child’s school life, and they also help the child better understand English literacy (Lenski. 2006, P. 31). I learned from this article that it is important to use alternate assignments to assess an ELL. I think alternate assignments will be a more effective tool for me to use in my classroom to assess ELL’s because it effectively shows what the child is learning. Alternate assignments are based off of regular classroom activities, so I think it will be simpler for the ELL student to complete. I think that I will definitely be using alternate assignments in my classroom to assess ELLs because it will show me their progress better than a test that they may not understand will (Lenski. 2006, P.