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1342.12 Companion
July 12, 2017
Page 134
When appropriate, available and possible, and when English is not the dominant language,
conduct the assessment using equivalent instruments and procedures in both the dominant
language and English.
Scores alone from translated tests are not valid and cannot be used to determine eligibility, and
should only be used as an informal measure of information.
Information gathered from modified or translated assessment activities may be used in
conjunction with other evidences to determining eligibility.
Use of an interpreter and the information gathered from the assessment should be used
judiciously to aid in the understanding of the student profile.
Document and fully discuss in the individual assessment report any modification in test
administration, such as:
o
allowing extra time for timed verbal items,
o
substitution of dialectally/culturally appropriate vocabulary,
o
deletion/modification of culturally inappropriate items,
o
explicit instruction beyond that allowed in administration criteria and use of practice
items,
o
dual scoring of test protocols- both with and without modifications,
o
probing for reasons for responses, and
o
translation.
In addition to the assessment information required under Chapter
4 Referral and Assessment Planning of this Companion, the individual assessment reports for ELLs includes:
o
Impact of culture on educational performance
o
Implications of social and academic English skills
o
Informal assessment information and
o
Any discrepancies in the data
Non-Standardized Assessment
Non-Standardized assessments may include:
Interview with parents, teachers, nurse, paraprofessionals and others in the student’s
environment
Interview student
Observations in a variety of settings
Use of checklist, rating scales, and self-reports by parent, teachers, student, and others
Student work samples
Criterion-referenced assessments
Curriculum-based assessments
Analytical (diagnostic/prescriptive) teaching
Dynamic assessment (test-teach-retest)
Language Proficiency/Dominance
The purpose of language proficiency testing and establishing the dominant language is to
gain a measure of the student’s language capabilities in both the native language and in
English. It is important to gain an understanding of the language capability so that
language proficiency will not impede the student’s performance in the cognitive and
academic assessments. The cognitive and academic assessments should measure the