Modifying Nonessential Language Features to Lessen the Score Gap Between English Learners (ELs) and Non-ELs

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: Issues in Assessment Development and Practice in Public School Classrooms

Abstract

The score gap between English learners (ELs) and non-ELs on science tests is longstanding and resistant to efforts to reduce it. One source of this gap is surely the difference in opportunities to learn, which are evident upon ELs’ entry to elementary school and persist throughout students’ academic careers. But another source of score difference, and one that can be addressed through improved test development, is the language of tests—not the science terms themselves, but unduly complex syntax and nonessential academic vocabulary, among other features. The multi-phase study described in this paper identifies linguistic features associated with EL science test item performance and examines the effects of relevant modifications of such items on the scores of ELs and non-ELs.

Authors

• Sharon Nelson-Barber, WestEd

• Elise Trumbull, Independent Consultant

• Chun-Wei Huang

• George E. DeBoer, American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Cari F. Herrmann-Abell, BSCS Science Learning

• Sarah Glassman, Smithsonian Science Education Center