Planning for assessment

In order for assessments to be effective in guiding instruction, particularly instruction that grows language proficiency, it is important to attend to the language demands when lesson planning. Every lesson we deliver to students calls for them to use language in some way. Here are some examples: 

• Listen to an explanation about the importance of using text evidence
• Reread a math problem to determine how to solve it
• Verbally support a claim with evidence
• Write notes while watching a video clip 

Each of these activities demands that the learner use language to engage with the content - these are language demands. As we plan lessons for multilingual students it’s important to ask ourselves: What will students have to do with language? How much listening, reading and writing will be required for them to participate in the lesson? 

Once we’ve considered this, then we have to determine what type of scaffolds will be necessary for students at varying levels of language proficiency, from those at the initial stages of language development to those who are nearing English proficiency. Tier one instruction for multilingual learners must include linguistic scaffolds that provide access and opportunity. Time to review your lesson again and ask yourself some questions. Are there opportunities for students to speak, listen, read and write built into both lesson delivery and independent practice? Which linguistic scaffolds have been embedded to ensure comprehensible input and support students in achievable output? Some easy-to-use scaffolds include: 

• Visuals, gestures and repetition when giving a lecture or explaining a concept
• Sentence stems, frames and word banks to support peer conversations
• Paragraph frames and guided notes to support students when generating written responses

Apart from scaffolds, language barriers to instruction might exist that make it impossible to know to what degree language is preventing content understanding. For example, a student may be asked to watch a video clip about the flow of energy within a food web and then respond to the prompt: Describe the flow of energy in a food web. As we think about language demands, in this task the student must listen to the video clip then write a response. The language demands are listening and writing. For a student at the intermediate or developing stage of language proficiency writing a complete response in English may still be a challenge. The academic language students are expected to know and use to write this prompt can impact their ability to demonstrate understanding. And this can make it difficult to discern whether the challenge stems from English language proficiency or from a lack of grasp of the concept.

If we provide a paragraph frame, a sentence stem, or even a word bank, we can lessen their mental load as they work towards trying to word their sentences correctly. Instead, their mental energy is focused on unpacking the flow of energy in a food web. Now when the teacher grades the written response they can truly determine how well the student understood the content or learning standard.  Making decisions about how the student responded to the language scaffolds is also easier at this point. Did the student use the paragraph frame or sentence stem? Was the sentence stem too basic or too advanced? Did the word bank help the student use academic vocabulary? Attending the language demands placed on students during learning enables us to focus fully on linguistic progress when using formative assessment tasks. Essentially, we are beginning with language in mind and then making space to assess language along the way.

Assessments as learning

Some of the key formative assessments that are the most beneficial in gauging student learning, evaluating linguistic progress, and providing feedback are one on one conferences, short written responses and student self assessments. These types of formative assessments happen throughout the learning process and are impactful for several reasons. First, they involve students in the learning process, empowering them to become active participants in their own journey. This is particularly true for student self assessments. Self assessments provide agency for students. These can take the form of an actual scale or rubric students complete, or as simple as a turn-in basket. For example, after composing a short written response, have students place it into a basket that corresponds to a color that represents how well they feel they performed. Digitally, you could have students color code their text to match how they feel they performed. If using a color code: 

• Orange: This challenged me and I think I need support to write a clear response.
• Green: I understood and was able to respond with only 1-2 errors.
• Blue: My written response could be an example to others.

Once students have self assessed, the written responses can then be graded and the students can be given feedback. A one on one conference with students who rated their understanding low or who rated it high but did not demonstrate mastery is also beneficial to the learning process. Taking time to show students examples of quality responses during the conference can help to ensure that students understand the expectation. 

One other important benefit of providing time for student reflection is being able to talk directly to students about the scaffolds they are being given. This is true at all grade levels but especially true in grades three and up. Take this moment to address both linguistic and academic progress, as well as develop students' metacognitive abilities with questions such as: 

• Why did you choose this rating?
• In what ways was this response easy? challenging?
• Are there any scaffolds or supports that would have made this assignment easier?
• What did you notice about your grammar? Vocabulary? Sentence structure?
• Did the paragraph frames help you feel confident when writing?
• Do you think you are ready to move away from paragraph frames and use sentence stems instead? 

Involving students in the learning process grants the agency. When there are opportunities for multilingual learners to reflect on their learning it supports moving from dependence on language scaffolds toward independently using academic English. 

Written responses take place in science and social studies courses as well, making these types of formative assessments useful across content areas. They can be individualized to target the unique language needs of multilingual learners, ensuring teachers and language coaches can effectively address students' linguistic needs by:

• Identifying consistent use of simple sentence structures in written responses.
• Providing complex sentence frames and practicing more complex sentence construction with students.
• Addressing misconceptions related to grammatical structures, vocabulary usage, and content ideas.

Paula Polk is an author, coach, and instructional leader who is passionate about advocating for multilingual learners and all striving learners. Her 16 years of educational service have centered around empowering students, teachers, and instructional leaders to create spaces where students can thrive. You can learn more about her work on her website coachreflective.org. Her book Enhancing Instruction for Multilingual Learners: Coaching Practices to Empower Students is available at ASCD.