Timeline of Key Events in Assessing Multilingual Learners. by Misael Villa

1969: Chandler and Plakos Study

vill2303 — 2025-04-07 22:00:11 UTC

A study done by Chandler and Plakos in 1969 revealed that many children of Mexican descent were being incorrectly placed in Educable Mentally Retarded (EMR) classes after being asses on the English - only IQ test. This exposed biases in educational assessments and became a foundational moment for recognizing the need for fair testing reforms. This is baffling for many reasons but thankfully, it opened the door to a conversation on fairness.

1999: Revision of Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing

vill2303 — 2025-04-07 22:00:11 UTC

A major revision highlighted the importance of equitable and validity in assessments for students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Similar to before, I think that this event is important in the timeline because it laid a critical foundation for ensuring fairness in assessing multilingual learners. I chose to highlight this revision instead of the most current simply because of its major focus on fairness as described in Mahoney 2024.

2002: No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

vill2303 — 2025-04-07 22:00:11 UTC

NCLB brought annual testing and increased accountability for English language learners (ELLs). However, its focus on standardized testing also led to heated debates about its impact on multilingual students and educational fairness. Its impact was quite clear in how it ignored the needs of multilingual learners and putting so much stress on educators to achieve good scores in testing.

2010: Common Core State Standards Released

vill2303 — 2025-04-07 22:00:11 UTC

In 2010 under the Obama administration, the release of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aimed to provide consistent and clear benchmarks for English language learners while highlighting the importance of preparing all students for college and career readiness. As per table 2.2, it was clear that the Department of Education still could not figure out how to define what valid and reliable assessments for MLs were.

ESSA - 2015

vill2303 — 2025-04-07 22:00:11 UTC

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 replaced NCLB and gave states more flexibility while maintaining accountability for the progress of English learners. What is concerning is how the main tenets of NCLB were still present in ESSA. No real change was introduced for the success of MLs in assessment. A year later, states can chose which assessments and standards they choose to used for MLs as long as federal criteria is met.