Professional Development Course on Catering for Diversity in English Language Teaching ENG5316

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Professional Development Course on Catering for
Diversity in English Language TeachingENG5316 As
sessing Diversity in English Language Learning
Session 6 Assessing progress, learning plans and
statements
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Assessment

• Assessment is more than merely testing students.
  Rather, it involves collecting data to form a
  holistic picture of a student so that the teacher
  can plan instruction and promote student
  progress (Meese, 2001, p. 130).
• In combination, the various forms of assessment
  give teachers the needed documentation by which
  to make informed educational decisions to promote
  student achievement.

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Steps in the Assessment Process
Identification and Referral
Program Planning
Program Implementation and Evaluation
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Identification and Referral

• Identification of students with possible
  disabilities
• Involve the largest number of students
• Not necessarily result in referral
• When a disability is suspected, the assessment
  process involves a multidimentional evaluation.

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Screening and Teacher Identification

• Complete checklists or rating forms to identify
  students with potential problems
• Conferences with students and parents
• Review of school records
• Changes in instruction

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Checklists and Rating Scales

• Checklists are sequential lists of skills that
  the teacher completes for a particular student.
• Rating scales are instruments by which the
  teacher judges a students performance or
  behavior.
• The rating is often completed using a Likert
  scale measure.

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Program Planning

• Design of the Individualized Education Program
  (IEP)

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Design of the IEP

• Developed before the student begins to receive
  special services
• A meeting must be held to examine the
  appropriateness of the IEP and revise it, if
  necessary

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Program Implementation and Evaluation

• To determine whether the educational program is
  effective or not
• Modify the program, if necessary

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What should be included in the IEP?

• Students present levels of educational
  performance
• A statement of measurable annual goals
  short-term objectives
• Needed special education, supplementary aids,
  program modifications and supports
• The projected date for the beginning of the
  services and modifications, and the anticipated
  frequency, location, and duration of those
  services and modifications
• A statement of how the students progress toward
  the annual goals will be measured

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Ongoing Monitoring of Progress

• Analysis of work samples
• Criterion-referenced test
• Observation

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Informal Assessment in the Classroom

• Informal assessment procedures make use of any
  data the teacher collects to monitor the progress
  of students and make instructional decisions.
• Informal assessment methods often employ the
  specific curricular materials used when teaching
  students.

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Curriculum-Based Assessment

• When assessment involves the actual curricular
  materials that students are using, the procedure
  is called curriculum-based assessment.
• Frequent and direct assessment, when used to
  evaluate student objectives, helps teachers
  determine the effectiveness of instruction.

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Curriculum-Based Assessment

• APPLY as a framework
• A ____________ the curriculum
• Determine the foundational skills, important
  competencies and ultimate outcomes for students.
• P __________ items to meet curriculum
  objectives
• P __________ frequently
• Give the CBA several times across the days in
  order to make decisions about student learning.
• L __________ data on a graph
• Use a graph to plot daily performance data.
• Y __________ to results
• Make decisions regarding student progress and
  revise instruction accordingly.

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Authentic Assessment Performance-Based
Assessment

• Authentic assessment and performance assessment
  are two terms often used interchangeably to refer
  to testing a students ability to produce an
  answer or product that demonstrates his or her
  knowledge or skills.
• Results on students class assignments, anecdotal
  records, writing samples, and observational data
  on behavior are all examples of authentic
  assessments (Bryant, et al., 2008).

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Portfolios

• Portfolios are a form of performance assessment.
• With teacher guidance, students select various
  items to place in their portfolio to document
  their learning and progress across curricular
  areas.
• A portfolio can serve as a vehicle for measuring
  a childs current level of functioning and his or
  her progress toward annual goals and objectives
  on the IEP.
• It is an excellent tool to facilitate
  communication between parents and teachers about
  student progress.

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Criterion-Referenced Assessment

• How will the teacher determine that a student has
  mastered an objective?
• A criterion-referenced test compares a students
  performance to a preset criterion.
• The criterion is often an objective that states
  that a student can perform a particular task to a
  specified level.

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Observation

• Another common method used for informal
  assessment of both academic and behavioral
  performance is direct observation.
• Procedures anecdotal recording, event recording,
  duration recording, or time-sampling

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Review of the IEP

• Evaluate the students progress toward the IEP
  goals
• Evaluate the effectiveness of services or
  supports

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Task 1

• Form in groups of 3-4.
• Identify a student who is suspected to have
  learning difficulties.
• Try to design an individualized education program
  (IEP) for that student.

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Assessment of SEN in Hong Kong
Special Educational Needs Professional Assessment
Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia) To be confirmed by educational psychologists (EP) or clinical psychologists (CP)
Intellectual Disability To be confirmed by EPs, CPs, or Child Assessment Service of the Department of Health/Hospital Authority
Autism Spectrum Disorders To be confirmed by psychiatrists or Child Assessment Service of the Department of Health/Hospital Authority
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders To be confirmed by psychiatrists
Physical Disability To be confirmed by medical doctors as having significant disability
Visual Impairment To be confirmed by ophthalmologists, or General Eye and Low Vision Centre of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind
Hearing Impairment To be confirmed by audiologists
Speech and Language Impairment To be confirmed by speech therapist as having moderate to severe speech and language difficulty or having fluency disorder of any severity
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Principles and Strategies for Assessment

• Flexible assessment arrangements can be made
  according to students special learning needs
  (Education and Manpower Bureau, 2004).
• special design for the format of examination
  papers and answer sheets,
• arrangement for appropriate examination venues,
• adaptation of examination time, etc.

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Principles and Strategies for Assessment

• Taking into account students learning
  difficulties, they should be assessed according
  to their situations (Education and Manpower
  Bureau, 2004). For instance,
• Students with serious and profound hearing
  impairment can be exempted from listening
  examinations
• Dictation marks of the students with dyslexia are
  not counted in the calculation of the total
  scores in language subject examinations

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Some Special Arrangements for SEN Students

• Large print examination papers
• Extra 5-15 minutes can be given to mildly
  visually impaired students for each hour of
  examination time
• A 5-10 minutes break can be arranged halfway
  during the examination when necessary
• Assessment instructions must be simple, direct
  and clear with concrete examples
• Leave enough space for answers
• Avoid the use of separate answer sheets

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Some Special Arrangements for SEN Students

• Flexibly reduce the use of copying for answering
  questions, e.g., circle or underline the correct
  answers in the passage for reading comprehension
• An additional time allowance of up to 25 for
  finishing test or examination papers
• Allow using computers as a tool for writing for
  students who demonstrate extreme writing
  difficulties
• Reduce the amount required for dictation
• Teachers may consider using fill in the blanks
  instead of dictating the whole paragraph
• Schools may adopt the system of giving marks for
  the right answers instead of deducting marks for
  errors

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Case Study Support for SEN Students in XXX
Secondary School

• Whole-school Approach to Catering for Student
  Diversity
• Write up an Individual Education Profile (IEPro)
  for each student with special educational needs
  (SEN).
• Conduct diagnostic tests of Chinese, English and
  Mathematics.
• Conduct Chinese and English handwriting tests to
  assess students writing speed.
• Set up Chinese, English and Mathematics resource
  classes for SEN students and have an Individual
  Education Plan (IEP) written for each student in
  the classes by the subject teachers.
• Implement Differentiated Instruction.
• Implement the One Student One Mentor Scheme.

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Differentiated Instruction

• Graded teaching materials and exam papers
• Low level / SEN students
• Copying sentences
• Answering factual questions
• Main points are highlighted
• Keywords are bolded / represented with pictures
• Greater line spacing
• Simpler and clearer layout
• Middle level
• Copying and constructing sentences
• Answering factual and inferential questions
• High level
• Constructing sentences
• Answering inferential and reflective questions

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Task 2

• Based on the short story provided, see if you can
  set some factual, inferential, and reflective
  questions for students of low, middle, and high
  levels.

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Support for SEN Students

• Is there any special support for SEN students at
  your teaching school? If yes, share with other
  participants.

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Evaluation

• To conduct self-evaluation on SEN support.
• To develop an annual plan for the following
  school year.

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Self-Evaluation Process

• Planning
• SWOT analysis
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Year-end Evaluation Form for Individual Student
• Year-end Evaluation Form at School Level

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Whole School Approach

• Think about the strengths, weaknesses,
  opportunities, and threats at your teaching
  school that may affect its implementation of the
  Whole School Approach to Integrated Education.

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References

• Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., Bryant, B. R.
  (2009). Teaching students with special needs in
  inclusive classrooms. Boston, Mass. Allyn
  Bacon.
• Education and Manpower Bureau. (2004). Whole
  school approach Principles and strategies for
  assessment. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from
  Education Bureau Website http//www.edb.gov.hk/Fi
  leManager/EN/Content_3296/assessment_e1.pdf
• Meese, R. L. (2001). Teaching learners with mild
  disabilities Integrating research and practice
  (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA Wadsworth/Thomson
  Learning.
• Spinelli, C. G. (2006). Classroom assessment for
  students in special and general education (2nd
  ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.
  Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

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