I admit it; I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to numbers
and graphs. So the first time I heard
the term “data literacy” my ears perked up.
I thought to myself, “I would love to become data literate!” As a
teacher I struggled with ways to assess my students fairly. I wanted to give them the opportunity to show
me what they knew in ways that were appropriate for their level of English
proficiency. Now as a teacher trainer I
am often asked about best practices in assessing ELLs. I have witnessed a growing desire among
educators to find ways to effectively use their student data. As educators we need to continually ask ourselves:
- What does this assessment measure?
- What am I going to do with the information I receive from it?
When I mention these two key questions in a workshop,
educators often confess that they don’t quite know what to do with their ACCESS
for ELLs data. They know that it assesses English language proficiency across
the five ELD standards. They also know
what their state education agency has determined as entry and exit scores based
on ACCESS. Some educators are even aware of the various scores available (for
more on score reports, click here). At
the district level, teachers realize that programmatic decisions are often made
using student data. But how can we
effectively use ACCESS for ELLs data to inform our instructional practices?
