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Descriptive Statements:
- Apply knowledge of phonology, including phonemes, stress, intonation, and rhythm, to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of morphology, including how word structure (e.g., roots, prefixes, suffixes), inflectional endings (e.g., -s, -ed, -ing, -er, -est), and derivational affixes (e.g., un-, dis-, -ly, -ment, -ion) affect a word's function and meaning, to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of syntax, including parts of speech (e.g., verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions) and the structure of phrases and sentences, to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of semantics, including word relationships (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homonyms) and the distinction in meaning of words and idioms in various contexts, to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of discourse features of written and oral texts (e.g., speech acts, genres, discourse markers) to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of pragmatic features of language (e.g., nonverbal elements, formal and informal discourse), various discourse settings (e.g., classroom, social event), and language functions (e.g., narrating, informing, explaining, arguing, persuading), as well as factors (e.g., social norms, purpose, audience) that affect choice of pragmatic features, to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of the linguistic features of social, general-academic, and discipline-specific language (e.g., tiered vocabulary: Tier One–everyday speech words, Tier Two–general-academic words, Tier Three–discipline-specific words) to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of sociolinguistic concepts, including language variation and register (i.e., language particular to specific functions), to promote English learners' language and literacy development.
- Apply knowledge of strategies for comparing English learners' home languages with English to identify potential transference between languages as well as aspects of English that may be challenging for English learners.
- Apply knowledge of appropriate and sustainable strategies for engaging English learners in making connections and comparisons between language systems and using knowledge of language systems as an empowering tool for learning languages.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A sixth-grade student at Level 3 (developing) of English writing proficiency whose home language is Spanish develops a first draft for an expository piece about U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. An excerpt from a graphic organizer containing the student's draft and responses to the teacher's directed editing prompts is shown below.
First draft with teacher annotations: |
|
Many people in America admiring Martin Luther King. He have a lot of courage. He fought for the people. He helped people. Now the people had their rights. He was a hero of rights civil.
|
List the (underlined) nouns that have adjectives describing them: |
people – many
courage – lot of
rights – civil
|
How do you write this in Spanish? |
muchas personas
???
derechos civiles
|
How is English different from Spanish? |
It other way round – people many, civil rights
|
The EL teacher could most effectively prompt the student to revise the draft to make it more complex and cohesive by providing the student with a mini-lesson on which topic?
- sentence combining
- sentence diagramming
- subject-verb agreement
- pronoun-antecedent agreement
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
A. The student's draft expresses ideas clearly by using short simple sentences and repetitive pronoun references. Learning how to combine sentences would be the next appropriate step in the student's English language development, enabling the expression of ideas in a more layered, cohesive, and fluid way.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of current theories and key concepts in new-language acquisition, including the importance of promoting and sustaining bilingualism/multilingualism as an asset and a goal for English learners.
- Demonstrate understanding that English learners' home languages are an asset for learning English and influence English language learning (e.g., language and literacy skills transfer, interlanguage development, code-switching, translanguaging).
- Demonstrate knowledge of cognitive, metacognitive, and metalinguistic processes and strategies involved in learning a new language (e.g., memorization, generalization, fossilization, self-monitoring, reflection, circumlocution, comparison), and apply knowledge of strategies for explicitly teaching English learners effective language-learning and self-monitoring strategies to promote their language development and engagement in self-directed learning.
- Understand the role of comprehensible input and output in acquiring a new language and apply knowledge of strategies for using comprehensible input and output for scaffolding English learners' comprehension and use of English in social and academic contexts.
- Demonstrate knowledge of stages and processes of new-language development, including the distinctions between the six levels of English language proficiency as defined in the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework (i.e., Level 1–entering, Level 2–emerging, Level 3–developing, Level 4–expanding, Level 5–bridging, and Level 6–reaching).
- Understand the role of feedback in language instruction and demonstrate knowledge of strategies for providing appropriate feedback (e.g., recasting, explicit correction) in various contexts.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A sixth-grade student at Level 3 (developing) of English writing proficiency whose home language is Spanish develops a first draft for an expository piece about U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. An excerpt from a graphic organizer containing the student's draft and responses to the teacher's directed editing prompts is shown below.
First draft with teacher annotations: |
|
Many people in America admiring Martin Luther King. He have a lot of courage. He fought for the people. He helped people. Now the people had their rights. He was a hero of rights civil.
|
List the (underlined) nouns that have adjectives describing them: |
people – many
courage – lot of
rights – civil
|
How do you write this in Spanish? |
muchas personas
???
derechos civiles
|
How is English different from Spanish? |
It other way round – people many, civil rights
|
The student's response in the last row of the graphic organizer primarily reflects which cognitive process related to learning a new language?
- circumlocution
- conceptualization
- fossilization
- generalization
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. Generalization is a process in language acquisition in which early learners apply conventions they have learned in one context to all contexts. The student's response demonstrates their awareness that a common syntactic convention, namely the order in which adjectives and nouns appear, is frequently juxtaposed across the two languages they speak.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate understanding of English learners' individual mitigating variables, such as age, affective filter, identities, self-esteem, and motivation, and how they affect language learning and inform instruction.
- Demonstrate knowledge of societal factors and how they affect language learning and inform instruction.
- Demonstrate knowledge of characteristics, assets, and challenges of English learners, including newcomers, long-term English learners, English learners with limited or interrupted formal education, English learners with disabilities, and English learners who are gifted.
- Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate strategies for learning about English learners' interests, languages, educational backgrounds, background knowledge, and life experiences using a variety of resources, such as parent advisory committees, families, students, classroom observations, community organizations, surveys, community outreach, technology, or school records.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
An EL teacher and a second-grade classroom teacher plan a collaborative learning activity in which small groups of students will solve a mathematics problem. The teachers review the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® and classroom performance data for an English learner in preparation for the activity. Below are excerpts of the data.
WIDA ACCESS® Performance
WIDA ACCESS® Performance
| Language Domain |
Proficiency Level Score |
| Listening |
3.4–Developing |
| Speaking |
2.6–Emerging |
| Reading |
1.5–Entering |
| Writing |
1.2–Entering |
Classroom Observation of Student Performance
Classroom Observation of Student Performance
| Speaking and Listening Learning Standards |
Rarely |
Occasionally |
Frequently |
| Follows agreed-upon rules for discussion. |
blank |
✓check |
blank |
| Builds on others' talk in conversation by linking their comments to others' remarks. |
blank |
✓check |
blank |
| Asks for clarification and further explanation as needed about topics under discussion. |
blank |
blank |
✓check |
| Produces appropriate language in order to provide requested detail or clarification. |
blank |
blank |
✓check |
| Asks questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information. |
blank |
✓ check |
blank |
| Recounts or describes key ideas from information presented orally or through other media. |
blank |
blank |
✓check |
The assessment data indicate that the teachers can most effectively promote the English learner's language development by leveraging which strength?
- close attendance to oral and written input
- balanced interpretive and expressive skills
- an affective filter lowered to promote risk taking
- an awareness of turn-taking norms used in conversations
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
C. The assessment data indicate that the student, who is between Level 2 and Level 3 in overall oral English proficiency, frequently volunteers to share information and asks for clarification when necessary. These behaviors indicate that the student has a low affective filter, a psychological state that allows them to be open to making and learning from mistakes as part of the language acquisition process.
Descriptive Statements:
- Apply strategies for selecting and designing assessments (e.g., formal, informal, norm referenced, criterion referenced, language proficiency assessments, curriculum based, performance based) for English learners that are appropriate for the identified purpose(s).
- Understand how to interpret results from assessments used with English learners for various purposes, such as diagnosis, placement, evaluation of language proficiency (e.g., WIDA ACCESS), evaluation of academic progress, or screening for giftedness or learning disabilities.
- Recognize potential challenges (e.g., unfamiliar test language, images, references, test formats) and psychological factors (e.g., limited test experience, text anxiety) associated with the assessment of English learners that may affect assessment validity, reliability, and access for all.
- Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate and allowable testing accommodations and content modifications for English learners.
- Recognize the importance of assessing English learners using various methods of assessment (e.g., formal, informal) that are appropriate and support the importance of conducting ongoing assessment to inform and adjust instruction.
- Recognize when the English language performance of an English learner falls outside the expected range for the student's proficiency level and may indicate the need for classroom interventions, further testing, or additional services.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for communicating assessment results to stakeholders.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A memorandum published by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) in 1970 included the following statement:
Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.
Which current approach to assessment best reflects the mandate issued in the DHEW memorandum?
- applying evidence-based statistical tools to interpret results from assessments of English learners
- using both formative and summative assessments to evaluate the academic progress of English learners
- recognizing potential challenges associated with the assessment of English learners
- recognizing assessment results that demand academic as well as linguistic interventions for English learners
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
C. The memorandum focuses on the necessity of taking steps to ensure the effective participation in public education programs of students whose home languages are not English. The practice of identifying possible assumptions these students may encounter in assessment contexts and mediating the effects of these assumptions on student performance connects most clearly to the memorandum's focus.
Descriptive Statements:
- Apply knowledge of appropriate and sustainable research-based methods and resources (e.g., leveraging students' home-language literacy skills; providing direct, explicit instruction to support students' individual learning goals; using visuals; building schemata and background knowledge; building on students' oral language to support literacy development) for appropriately differentiating and scaffolding English learners' instruction in foundational English literacy skills, including print concepts and letter recognition and formation, phonemic awareness, phonics and other word identification strategies, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension, the writing process, and the writing conventions of English.
- Apply knowledge of appropriate and sustainable research-based methods of effective vocabulary instruction, such as direct teaching of specific words; building background knowledge; promoting development of independent word-learning strategies (e.g., morphological or structural analysis, recognizing word origins and cognates, contextual analysis, consulting reference materials); developing students' word consciousness; building vocabulary knowledge related to specific texts; providing multiple, meaningful exposures to new words through listening and reading; and opportunities to use new words meaningfully in speaking and writing.
- Apply knowledge of appropriate and sustainable strategies for promoting English learners' understanding and use of writing processes (e.g., prewriting to generate ideas and plan writing, producing drafts, revising to improve text, editing text, publishing text to share with an audience, adjusting writing process as necessary, setting goals for improvement).
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
An EL teacher and a ninth-grade science teacher co-teach a science class that contains several English learners. The teachers design a focused journal activity for English learners to complete prior to viewing a content-related video. Following is an excerpt from the journal of an English learner at Level 3 (developing) of English reading and writing proficiency.
| Physics – Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation |
Focus Question 1:
Which energy sources in your homes use electromagnetic waves?
Focus Question(s) 2:
Which kind of wave has the highest frequency? Which kind of wave has the longest wavelength?
(radio waves, infrared waves, X-rays, visible light, ultraviolet light) |
Key Vocabulary:
wave, electromagnetic radiation, radio, light, microwave, electric field, magnetic field, frequency |
| Background Knowledge |
What I know about the focus questions and vocabulary:
I know about the energy it is like power like electric
wave: meaning "ondo" – like the water in the ocean where I go for swimming with my friends the last summer – big waves
microwave – like in the kitchen for cooking my breakfast on every Friday
micro means small – little waves I cant see
magnet
electricity
field – is like plants in a space – like where you plant the carrots
but don know electric or magnetic maybe like a fence to protec? |
| Prediction |
I think the video will be about:
how use we energy in the house and maybe for the fence for the field and the energy coming in waves and we cant see the waves |
The English learner's notes indicate that they can independently apply prior instruction in which area related to foundational language and literacy skills in English?
- consulting reference materials to clarify gaps in comprehension
- prewriting for the purpose of planning an organized final product
- setting goals for improvement in interpretive and expressive skills
- analyzing the morphology and etymology of words to clarify meaning
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. The student's analysis of the word "microwave" shows they can apply etymological knowledge ("micro" means "small") and perform morphological analysis by placing the component morphemes of the word together ("micro" and "wave") to infer that the kind of electricity being described will consist of small waves.
Descriptive Statements:
- Apply knowledge of strategies for creating an appropriate and sustainable learning environment that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically and that leverages English learners' home languages, backgrounds, and funds of knowledge as valuable assets for learning and resources for teaching.
- Recognize the role of various backgrounds in the learning environment, including the influence of background differences, such as values and beliefs, educational background, approaches to learning (e.g., cooperative versus competitive, individual versus group), and stages of acclimation to a new learning environment (e.g., euphoria, silent period), that may affect English learners' language development and academic achievement.
- Apply knowledge of strategies for creating and managing a safe, trauma-informed, respectful, and supportive student-centered learning environment that promotes English learners' participation, collaboration, and learning in a variety of settings (e.g., whole class, flexible grouping, independent learning, individualized instruction) and encourages students to be actively involved in learning, take risks, and extend their learning inside and outside the learning environment.
- Apply knowledge of differences in communication styles (e.g., nonverbal elements, turn-taking conventions, role of silence, social distancing) and effective communication practices (e.g., providing clear directions, using a variety of questioning techniques) for facilitating interactions and communication within and across heritages.
- Recognize the effects of social assumptions and apply strategies for discussing these issues purposefully with students with the goal of promoting a respectful learning environment for all.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A memorandum published by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) in 1970 included the following statement:
Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.
Current approaches to educating English learners differ from the language used in the DHEW memorandum primarily in which way?
- They focus on ways bilingual students from multiple heritages can contribute to the language development of their monolingual English-speaking peers.
- They prioritize commonalities among students in U.S. schools rather than the development of distinct heritage-based identities.
- They recognize bilingualism and biculturalism as assets to leverage as resources for academic learning.
- They promote instructional programs that include development of English proficiency as an optional goal.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
C. The language used in the memorandum conveys the idea that a lack of English proficiency constitutes a "deficit" that needs to be "rectified" for English learners to have a chance to participate effectively in United States school systems. Research and classroom practices in the intervening years have led to a rejection of this "deficit model" in favor of evidence that bilingual and multilingual learners possess advantages (or assets) in new language acquisition and content learning due to their unique backgrounds.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of key court cases and key legislation and federal policies that affect the education of English learners (e.g., Lau v. Nichols, Castañeda v. Pickard, Plyler v. Doe, Title VII 7 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968 [Bilingual Education Act], Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 [IDEIA], Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 [ESSA]).
- Demonstrate knowledge of national requirements for identifying, placing, and exiting students from programs for English learners.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics, goals, and effectiveness of various program models (e.g., two-way bilingual education; dual language education; sheltered English instruction; structured English immersion, pull-out and push-in instruction).
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for advocating for the implementation of effective co-teaching models that promote integrated appropriate and sustainable English language and content teaching and learning.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for modeling appropriate and sustainable teaching and education practices for teachers, educators, and other stakeholders who work with English learners.
- Understand how to use self-reflection and other approaches to inform and adjust instructional practices and professional behavior (e.g., recognizing effects of prior experiences and potential influences on teaching practices; seeking feedback from stakeholders; conducting action research; using professional reflection to identify personal strengths and areas for improvement, including professional development) and to recognize how one's values and beliefs relate to the education of all English learners.
- Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for sharing with educators and school staff an awareness of the influence that backgrounds and personal experiences and assumptions can have on educational practices, and collaborate with educators and school staff to identify and prevent potential misunderstandings, misconceptions, arbitrary requirements, inappropriate curricular expectations, and assessment assumptions that can negatively impact English learners' access to educational opportunities and academic success.
- Demonstrate knowledge of effective strategies for building partnerships and collaborating with stakeholders (e.g., teachers, administrators, other educational staff, parents/caregivers, community partners) to raise an awareness of the importance of promoting and sustaining bilingualism/multilingualism as an asset and a goal for English learners and to facilitate English learners' language and literacy development, access to equitable education, and academic success.
- Recognize the role of parents/caregivers in English learners' education; recognize that their practices and participation in the education of a child vary across backgrounds; and apply strategies for facilitating positive school/home interactions and developing opportunities for engagement and partnership.
Sample Item:
Use the information below to answer the question that follows.
A memorandum published by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW) in 1970 included the following statement:
Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.
The quoted statement from the DHEW memorandum is primarily based on which legal precedent?
- the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
- Title VI 6 of the Civil Rights Act
- the United States Court of Appeals decision in the case of Castañeda v. Pickard
- Title VII 7 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1967 (Bilingual Education Act)
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
B. Title VI 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited intolerances based on race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal funding. Title VI 6 in particular established the mandate for public schools to implement explicit measures to ensure that English learners are able to participate fully in academic programs.
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