Use of English Language Proficiency Data to Better Assess Reading Growth for English Language Learners

Differential Nonlinear Relations of Language Proficiencies to Reading and Math Achievement in Spanish or English

“…Language proficiency is critical to consider in the context of MTSS as it relates directly to the equity of screening within MTSS (Albers & Martinez, 2015). Current screening practices do not frequently include multiple languages of assessment, though recent research has further investigated the predictive validity of Spanish reading screening for Spanish reading achievement (Klingbeil et al, 2021;Marrs et al, 2021). Our current results suggest that, across Grades 2-8, differences between Spanish and English reading or math performance are most prominent at lower ELP levels (i.e., < 3).…”

“…SLP holds similar relationships to reading and math achievement, but joint ELP and SLP relationships suggest that many different combinations of proficiencies may predict similar scores. In all, these results indicate a need to better understand how language proficiency factors into screening performance and what the implications of this might be more measurement of academic skills among ELs and subsequent intervention provision decisions (Albers & Martinez, 2015;Hall et al, in press;Marrs et al, 2021). Note.…”

“…In making data-based decisions regarding who may benefit from assessment in English or an alternative language, school personnel should examine ELP levels (Albers & Martinez, 2015;Marrs et al, 2021;Richardson et al, 2021), timing of proficiency (Suhr et al, 2021), as well as consult WIDA's "Can-Do" (or similar indices based on their state's ELP assessments) to further inform assessment and intervention decisions (Albers & Martinez, 2015). Considering these unique English language skills will, ideally, help assist with identifying additional supports while also taking into account the wide range of strengths and needs ELs possess based on their language background.…”

“…Adequately capturing ELs' academic strengths and needs in light of their heterogenous language backgrounds and proficiencies is essential to equitable data-based decisions and intervention provision. English language proficiency (ELP) can provide additional important information in universal screening (Hall et al, in press) and progress monitoring (Marrs et al, 2021;Richardson et al, 2020). Other recent work has detailed the predictive validity of reading screening in Spanish (Klingbeil et al, 2021), which assists with understanding the technical adequacy of screening students in non-English languages.…”

Differential nonlinear relations of language proficiencies to reading and math achievement in Spanish or English.

“…Language proficiency is critical to consider in the context of MTSS as it relates directly to the equity of screening within MTSS (Albers & Martinez, 2015). Current screening practices do not frequently include multiple languages of assessment, though recent research has further investigated the predictive validity of Spanish reading screening for Spanish reading achievement (Klingbeil et al, 2021; Marrs et al, 2022). Our current results suggest that, across Grades 2–8, differences between Spanish and English reading or math performance are most prominent at lower ELP levels (i.e., <3).…”