6G) Assess in both languages
Assess children in both their home language and English to understand their full range of skills.
Strategy Overview: Así se dice
This strategy, designed by Literacy Squared, engages students in translation as a means of providing them with a deeper understanding of how ideas are conveyed across languages and cultures. It is designed to raise cross-language awareness.Read More
Planning Template: El Dictado
The Dictado is a routine in which the teacher dictates a series of phrases or sentences, and the teacher and students collaboratively correct them. The Dictado serves to teach and reinforce basic writing skills within each language, and to highlight cross-language transfer. This template helps teachers analyze their Dictados.Read More
Video: El Dictado
In this video, the teacher dictates a series of phrases or sentences, and the teacher and students collaboratively correct them. The Dictado serves to teach and reinforce basic writing skills within each language, and to highlight cross-language transfer and reinforce the teaching points presented over the three days of implementation.Read More
Template: Oral Language Analysis—K-3rd
A template designed to guide the analysis of student's oral language record to identify follow-up instruction they can provide during upcoming Designated ELD time.Read More
Video: Oral Language Analysis—K-3rd
In this video, the teacher gathers a small group of Multilingual Learners to engage in a brief discussion in response to structured prompts regarding an artifact from the class' ongoing content learning. The teacher records each child's oral responses, and then analyzes the record to identify follow-up instruction they can provide during upcoming Designated ELD time.Read More
Resource Guide: A Deeper Look at Early Literacy
This interactive guide offers a comprehensive approach to literacy for Multilingual Learners. It is an overview of the language and literacy skills and instruction that children need at different stages of development. Common literacy terms are defined, instructional strategies are offered, and a picture of instruction, aligned across the grades is explained.Read More
Blog: Should Multimodalities be Incorporated into Testing and Assessment?
This blog introduces research that challenges the idea of written text as the mode of communication for comprehending written language and assessing Multilingual Learners. Suggestions for alternative assessment, attending to all domains of English, are offered.Read More
Webinar: Teaching Practices and Translanguaging Pedagogy
Educators at a newly formed 50-50 Spanish-English bilingual program in New York discuss their program design. They discuss how they systematically implement bilingual curriculum, use thematic units, and purposefully employ translanguaging techniques to integrate content and language instruction. Researcher Ofelia Garcia offers a reflection on translanguaging pedagogy at the end of the webinar.Read More
Blog: Equity Measures in Dual Language Education – Separation of Language
This blog makes the research-based case that language separation is a "non-negotiable" in a dual language program. Giving students access to content in their native language is a key component of accelerating achievement for Multilingual Learners.Read More
Strategy Overview: Translanguaging
This resource offers guidelines on the various ways teachers can implement translanguaging in the classroom.Read More
Article: DRDP – A Strengths-Based Approach to Assessing Young DLLs
This article describes how the California Department of Education’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) helps to assess Multilingual Learners while considering their cultural and linguistic characteristics. The DRDP can be used to assess children’s proficiency in their home language and English and helps educators learn about children’s literacy and oral language skills.Read More
Guide: Assessing Children Who Are Dual Language Learners
This guide explains how educators can assess Multilingual Learners using the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP). The guide includes information about code-switching, a typical feature of dual language development, and how assessors can ensure they are collecting the most comprehensive information to accurately assess children.Read More
Presentation Slides: Organizing Instruction for Explicit Skill Transference
This slide deck presentation was used to present research and provide examples on how language skills can transfer from Spanish to English.Read More
Online Module: Assessment of Students’ Academic and Language Skills
Initial and ongoing assessments in both the home language(s) and English are critical to determine instruction for Multilingual Learners and understand the full range of their skills. This page on the assessment of diverse learners is part of a larger set of online learning modules.Read More
Webinar: Measuring What All Children Can Do in All Languages
In this webinar, presenters discuss the trajectory of bilingual development and important considerations for assessing Multilingual Learners. The webinar provides guidance around using a variety of formative assessment tools, using summative assessment, and assessing children in their home language.Read More
Website Article: Young Dual Language Learners-Screening and Assessment
The objective of this article and accompanying video is to focus on Multilingual Learners and "understand some of the unique considerations that educators must keep in mind when screening and assessing."Read More
Video: That’s How You Say It/Asi se dice- 2/3rd grade
Students learn both literal and conceptual translation skills by engaging in the "That's How You Say It/Asi se dice" strategy. The teacher assigns students to strategic groups and chooses a specific passage of text for them to translate. Students have the opportunity to negotiate word meanings and compare and contrast their two languages as they work together to write and share their translation.Read More
