ESOL Testing at FSUS

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ESOL Testing at FSUS

• Maria Samuel Jimmy Lee
• Florida State University
  Schools

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How to Qualify for the ESOL Program

• Registration/Entry form and Home Language Survey
• If parents check "Yes" to any of the 3 questions
  in the Home Language Survey section, then the
  child is tested for English proficiency within 20
  days.
• Listening/Speaking and Reading/Writing Idea
  Proficiency Tests (IPT) are administered.
• If NES, LES, NER, LER, NEW, or LEW then the
  student is placed in the program.
• Note Many of our ESOL students at FSUS (grades
  3 and above) have qualified for services based on
  their reading or writing skills unless they are
  new arrivals in the United States.

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Enrollment in the ESOL Program

• On average, most ESOL students enroll in the
  program for 2-3 years. Each student progresses at
  a different pace. Some students may exit out of
  the program in 1 year. Some students may take
  longer than 3 years. If a student has been in the
  program for 3 years, then we are required to test
  him/her for every year thereafter he/she stays in
  the program.

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Exiting the ESOL Program

• We exit an ESOL student ONLY when the student has
  demonstrated that he/she is ready to be
  mainstreamed into the regular classroom
  full-time. This decision is made after consulting
  with the homeroom teacher, ESOL teacher and
  parents. After exiting the program, the student
  should be monitored for a period of two years. If
  the student does poorly, then a meeting is called
  to decide if the student needs to return to the
  ESOL program.

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About our language testing instrument Idea
Proficiency Test (IPT)

• Purpose
• The IPT was designed to assist districts with the
  process of identifying limited English proficient
  students (LEP) and with re-designating these
  students as fluent English proficient for
  placement in mainstream classes after a period of
  instruction in special programs for LEP students.

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Age and Language Groups

• The IPT I was designed to assess oral proficiency
  for students in grades K - 6. The IPT II is used
  for students in grades 7 - 12.
• The Reading and Writing Tests are sold in three
  versions IPT 1 is for grades 2 - 3 the IPT 2 is
  for grades 4 - 6 and the IPT 3 is for grades 7 -
  12.

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Administration Time

• The length of time involved in the administration
  of the oral form of the IPT varies depending upon
  two variables (1) the student's English language
  proficiency and (2) the level at which to start
  testing for LES/FES students. Average test time
  is 14 minutes.
• The Reading and Writing Tests are untimed. The
  Examiner's Manual for the various forms provides
  a table of approximate time ranges for each
  section of the reading/writing tests. The Reading
  Test will take from 45-70 minutes to administer.
• The Writing Test will take from 25-45 minutes to
  administer.
• Estimated total length of time 3 hours (or
  three class periods) for students in grades 3-12
  (unless they are low-beginning ELLs)

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Items

• The oral proficiency items consist of questions
  and statements to the student (e.g., "Stand up
  and turn around", or "What is your name?") and
  colorful picture cards for identification of an
  action verb (e.g., riding a bike, were
  singing/sang) or a noun (e.g., helicopter,
  stove).
• The items for the Reading and Writing Test are
  presented in a traditional multiple choice
  format.
• The Writing test includes two sections that
  require the student to write a story.

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Theoretical Foundation for the Test

• Six basic beliefs or premises comprise the
  underlying structure for the IPT family of tests
  
• 1) language is developmental
• 2) language is incremental
• 3) language is systematic
• 4) language is symbolic
• 5) language is used to communicate in a social
  context
• 6) language involves both receptive and
  productive skills

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Theoretical Foundation for the Test

• The theoretical foundation for the IPT series is
  based on the four stages of language acquisition
  
• 1) babbling - from birth to 12 months
• 2) echolalic - child begins to use
  inflections, stops, pitch, and imitate sounds
• telegraphic - child uses one or two words to
  convey meaning
• syntactic - child begins to assimilate the rules
  of grammar

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Critique of IPT

• Next
• We will look at some examples from the IPT oral,
  reading, and writing
• Pair work Test experience
• Discuss test-taking test-administration
  strategies and feelings
• More discussion on the IPT Any flaws?

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• Thank you and good luck
• this semester!
• ESOL HOME

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