Introduction chapter types of assessment

CHAPTER 2. The purpose and benefits of assessment
2.1. Benifirs of assessment.
Research provides evidence that specific early literacy concepts can predict young students' later reading achievement. These reading concepts include letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. An effective reading program includes assessments of all of these concepts for several purposes
One purpose is to identify skills that need review. Assessment provides teachers with information on what skills students have and have not mastered. It is needed to help teachers know the skill levels of their students, since students have varying experiences and knowledge.
A second purpose is to monitor student progress. A teacher can learn which students need review before covering additional content and which students are ready to move forward.
A third purpose is to guide teacher instruction. Through consistent assessment, a teacher can make informed decisions about what instruction is appropriate for each student.
A fourth purpose is to demonstrate the effectiveness of instruction. The information gained from assessment allows teachers to know if all students are mastering the content covered. It is important for teachers to use instructional time effectively, and this can be done when teachers are knowledgeable about what their students are ready to learn and what they already know. Therefore, the information gained from assessment allows a teacher to create appropriate instruction for their students. Additionally, a fifth purpose of assessment is to provide teachers with information on how instruction can be improved.

Tools for assessing proficiency in English of EAL pupils

For schools and teachers an important first step in supporting EAL learners to achieve their full potential, with particular reference to English language development, is to use an EAL assessment framework. This framework should be used to identify what a pupil can do, enable diagnosis of needs and individualisation of learning, so as to inform curriculum provision and promote potential development.
An example of this is The Bell Foundation’s EAL Assessment Framework for Schools, an evidence-informed, curriculum-based, easy-to-use framework for assessing English language proficiency developed by Cambridge University and Kings College London.
It provides a set of standards to assist schools in establishing English language proficiency and was specifically designed to support teaching and learning by enabling teachers and EAL coordinators to generate targets to guide individual learner progress.
At its core is a set of descriptors that can be used for both summative and formative purposes. For example, the framework can be used as a road map for progress, to check pupil performance and to inform planning. EAL proficiency can be assessed at the end of an academic year or key stage through tasks that tap
EAL learners typically develop communicative language quite quickly but can take longer to develop the language needed for academic success. Using a framework in the assessment of English language proficiency highlights that it is not just those New to English who require support, it also signposts targets for those learners working at bands C and D to help them to catch up with monolingual peers in the development of cognitive and academic language proficiency.
Conducting a thorough and robust EAL assessment process can make a key difference in enabling EAL learners to achieve at age-expected outcomes or above. It can help both practitioners and pupils in the following ways:

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  If EAL co-ordinators, teachers and teaching assistants understand the English language needs of their pupils, they can then help pupils to access the language of the curriculum and develop their English at the same time.
  
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  It spotlights the learner’s needs in a particular area of language – an EAL learner may appear to be fluent because they can converse easily, but this “fluency” can be deceptive. Language proficiency can vary across the four strands of language use in different curriculum areas.
  
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  It helps teachers teach all EAL learners – it is not just for the New to English learners, but is important for all EAL/bilingual learners.
  
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  Assessment is fair and inclusive as it recognises a learner’s potential and affects their life chances.