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1999- National Research Council Forms Committee on Appropriate Test Use

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1999- National Research Council Forms Committee on Appropriate Test Use

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In 1999, the National Research Council Committee on Appropriate Test Use included in their revised standards a large section dedicated to the testing of linguistic minorities. This report addressed the issue of validity in using English-language tests to determine the abilities, potential, or aptitude of MLs. Their conclusion was that using these tests for MLs would yield invalid results. Put simply, to test MLs using English-language tests does not accurately show what the MLs may or may not know.

This is relevant to the assessment of MLs today because this question of validity has largely been ignored. The ESSA continues to require ML students to take English Language Arts assessments, even after only one year, and these test results are used to place students and determine whether they have learned the content.

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2001- No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Implemented

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2001- No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Implemented

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In 2001, the Bush administration signed No Child Left Behind into law. This required states to give all students, including MLs, in grades 3 through 8 an annual assessment in reading and math. Districts needed to demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) or they faced major consequences.

This law greatly impacted MLs and, although it is no longer in place, many of the concepts from NCLB continue to this day, including the requirement that MLs' assessment results be included in districts' results and that MLs that perform poorly on state assessments are at risk of failure. It also required MLs to take ELA assessments before they were proficient in English language skills, which is a practice that continues today.

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In 2002, Title III of NCLB was passed, which required all states to develop and implement English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards and assessments.

Title III of NCLB required states to be held accountable for the assessment of ELP of MLs. As a result of this requirement, all states now have ELP standards and yearly assessments to determine MLs proficiency.

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2010- Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in ELA and Math Released

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2010- Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in ELA and Math Released

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In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were released for ELA and math. For the first time in history, almost all U.S. states implemented the same standards. Only two states did not adopt the standards.

State assessments in reading and math reflected the changes of the CCSS. For MLs, this meant that schools were held accountable for ensuring that MLs could meet the demands of the new standards and MLs were expected to take these newly CCSS-aligned assessments. Although only about half of the states continue to use the CCSS, most revised state standards are still quite similar and still emphasize English Language skills, even for MLs. This has impacted the implementation of bilingual programs, as many state leaders fear that bilingual programs will not prepare MLs to pass these ELA assessments.

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2015- NCLB Replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

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2015- NCLB Replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

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In 2015, NCLB was replaced by ESSA, which is still in place today. The ESSA continues to place a high emphasis on assessment scores but allows for more flexibility and gives states more choices to determine how students are succeeding.

While the ESSA technically allows for greater flexibility, little has changed in most states. Students, including MLs, continue to be judged based on how they perform on state assessments. MLs are able to opt out of the ELA assessments for only the first year, after which time their scores are counted towards a school's rating. Because of the continued emphasis on ELA and math test results, ESSA indirectly discourages the creation of bilingual programs that would better meet the needs of MLs.