One of the problems that I started to see at my school was an influx of new student's who are ELLs. Another issue that myself and other teachers discovered was trying to obtain the understanding at what level of acquired knowledge are the students at in his or her development. Several sources of information have stated that assessments designed for native English speakers should not be considered to have the same effect on ELLs. 

What we discovered quickly is that the assessments given to our ELL students were not proving to be effective. As a team, we began to figure out a way to try and find a solution to what type of assessments would provide the results we needed for our ELL students. We performed, so background worked on the subject and discovered that ELLs held at a higher degree of understanding than native English learners. Title III policies and rules under No Child Left Behind requires ELLs to make progress in learning English; attain English language proficiency (ELP); learn academic content. "In addition to taking part in content testing, all English learners must also make annual ELP or English language development assessments, whether or not they receive language support services.

Our team decided to address this issue by setting up a strategy for the assessment process for our ELL students. The first thing we looked at was providing accommodations to help students with giving them a chance to demonstrate what they know which in turn provided us with the data we needed to develop lessons for ELL students. At the suggestion of another teacher, we offered a state-approved bilingual word dictionary. 

The next strategy we used centered on preparing student's to take the computer-based assessment. We recognized that many of the students come from low-income areas and he or she may not have had that much exposure to digital devices. To assist with the online learning stage, we decided to use the Smarter Balanced tutorial system primarily because the student tutorials offered an option in Spanish, but the drawback was that it did not provide tutorials in any other language. 

What this allowed us to do was use their test scores to plan a level of instruction for the kids to learn and excel. The data was used to design appropriate learning objectives and differentiate the education for students depending on his or her levels of proficiency. As teachers, this allowed us to collaborate and align the selected accommodations on the state content assessments and match it with his or her ELP levels to design classroom materials designed to help promote the highest level of efficiency for the student. 

We know that more work and research has to be performed, but for now, we feel confident that this is a step in the right direction.