Standardized Tests as Gatekeepers: LTELs’ Self-Positioning and Resistance

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 1:45 pm
  In Poster Session: Standardized Tests as Gatekeepers

Abstract

This study investigates how Long-Term English Learners (LTELs) in a rural U.S. high school respond to the institutional positioning imposed by standardized tests. Drawing on Positioning Theory, I analyze interviews and observations of three Latino LTELs to understand how they interpret, contest, and negotiate their educational identities within systems of assessment and reclassification. Students resisted the deficit narratives embedded in tests like ACCESS for ELLs and BBA ELA by asserting English fluency, critiquing instructional placement, and seeking alternatives through agency. Findings call for equity-centered testing models that honor students’ self-perceptions and lived experiences.

Author

• Huseyin Uysal, The Education University of Hong Kong