INTRODUCTION
California is a state in which a significant number of children reside in homes in which English is not their primary language. Based on a parent’s response to the Home Language Survey, any pupil in California not previously identified as an English Language Learner or where previous records do not exist must be assessed for English language proficiency using the California English Language Development Test (Education Commission). Results of the CELDT are used by the school’s EL coordinator, teachers, and administration in order to guide instruction and to ensure that EL students receive adequate support within the classroom.
ASSESSMENT TOOL
The CELDT is an assessment tool used to gauge the proficiency of English Language Learner students. The CELDT Fundamentals video on Blackboard reviews the four components of CELDT: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. There are five proficiency levels that students can score, “beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced” (Blackboard, 2018). Once test results become available, EL individual student progress can be tracked and monitored for the duration of their public school career. The EL coordinator and teachers use the proficiency levels of the CELDT to properly place EL students in their classes. Also, teachers use the results to ensure that EL students are getting the needed academic support necessary to be successful in their classes. Another example of how teachers use the CELDT results is in the placement of the bilingual associates who provide increased student support in order to help the student transition to their new school setting. Teachers utilize individual CELDT results in order to modify lesson plans that address the language weaknesses and strengths of the EL students. This is an example of how a teacher could modify a test based on a student’s CELDT result. A student who has a higher proficiency level in Speaking could be allowed to verbally answer test questions instead of writing their answers. CELDT results also enable teachers to identify areas that a student’s skill is lacking such as reading. The teacher can then collaborate with the EL coordinator or other members of their department in order to remediate that skill. For example, an EL student with a Beginning reading score would benefit from reading with a partner to help increase reading fluency. There is a less stress for a student when working with a partner versus reading aloud to the entire class. CELDT scores are also important to administrators. For example, a smaller class size may be considered when grouping English Learners. State testing is also affected by English Learners. Generally, English Learners do not test at a proficient level in English and Math. Lastly, administrators also consider the number of English Learners when it comes to the staffing of teachers and associates.
PURPOSE OF CELDT TESTING
In order to utilize the benefits of CELDT testing, it is important for educators, students, and administration to understand the purpose of the test. The CELDT is administered in grades kindergarten through 12thgrade, and progress is tracked each year to better assist the student. If the student is new to a California public school, it is a requirement that students take the CELDT within 30 days of starting the school. According to the California Department of Education, the test is administered yearly until the student attains sufficient English proficiency and is reclassified as a fluent English speaker. The CELDT boot camp video explains the elements associated with the test, and prepares the students for the upcoming test they will be taking (Blackboard, 2018). The teacher discusses with the students that they will be required to write one coherent sentence during the test, which describes what is happening in an image that is given to the students. In order to help the student, the teacher uses a basic sentence frame, which will ultimately keep the sentence organized and guarantee all required components are included in the sentence. She urges students to keep the sentence short and to the point, and encourages students to reread their sentence. Students are told to look for a capital letter, period, and check that the sentence makes sense. She teaches the students that the sentence should be “big, little, and easy through the middle;” meaning the students should have a capital letter at the beginning, period at the end, and that the sentence should flow and makes sense through the middle. Towards the end of the video, the teacher creates one last sentence with the students, “the kids are sliding on a fun slide,” and together the students decide that the sentence makes sense, and contains all required components needed to make the sentence. The results of the Writing portion of the CELDT help teachers determine if a student understands and can use verbs properly or if they can use proper punctuation in their writing. This information helps a teacher guide the individual instruction for the EL student.
The overall purpose of the CELDT is to ascertain the English proficiency level in four different categories. In reading, a student could be lacking skills in phonemics or fluency. A reading program could be implemented to strengthen these skills. In the listening section of the test, the student is given verbal instructions, is tested on rhyming ability, and is tested on verbal comprehension. Teachers can use this information to determine where the student needs more help; for example, if the student scores low in the rhyming section of the test, the teacher would spend more time reviewing rhyming patterns with the student. In the writing component of the test, the student is instructed to create a simple sentence. Upon reviewing results of the test, the teacher might find that the student used the wrong verb tense; in this case, the teacher would develop lesson plans which improve the student’s aptitude to determine which verb tense to use. The last component of the CELDT is speaking, in which the student is tested on his or her oral vocabulary, speech functions, and the student is asked questions and must verbally respond. Again, the teacher is able to review test results, and determine areas of improvement. Possibly, the student may be struggling with subject-verb agreement, such as “the kids is going to the park,” in which case the teacher would incorporate direct instruction and student practice.
CELDT TRANSITIONING TO ELPAC
Current CELDT testing is evolving and becoming the ELPAC. As discussed in the article, “Comparison of the CELDT and the ELPAC” there several differences between the CELDT and the ELPAC. Eventually, the ELPAC will replace the CELDT. The ELPAC has intriguing characteristics, which will make test results more useful to teachers. The CELDT has 5 tiers of proficiency levels, and the ELPAC has only 3, this gives more room for improvement for students, and narrows the gap between proficiency levels. The CELDT is grouped into 5 grade level spans, whereas the ELPAC has 7 grade level spans, this can be beneficial because students can be tested more frequently on material they are learning, and gives students more room for improvement. This can also be a helpful tool in aiding teachers to discover areas of focus and can assist teachers in creating explicit lessons for individual students. In the document titled “ELPAC Transition” found on Blackboard, the ELPAC was in a pilot stage in 2016, in 2017 the ELPAC was being field tested, and as of July 2018, the ELPAC is currently in the operational stage, and the CELDT will slowly be phased out. The ELPAC incorporates the best components of the CELDT, and also contains several improvements that will benefit school districts (Blackboard, 2018).
CONCLUSION
CELDT or ELPAC testing and results are essential tools for teachers and administrators in order to guide instruction and to properly place teaching personnel to benefit the needs of English Learners. The administration can also use results to guide Professional Development for teachers as well. Yearly monitoring of an EL’s English skills helps teachers target their instruction and celebrate the student’s language successes. The goal for each English Learner is to be eventually reclassified as English Proficient. CELDT or ELPAC testing is the first step to achieving this outcome.
References
California Department of Education. Comparison of the CELDT and the ELPAC. 18 January
2018.
California Department of Education. ELPAC Transition. 14 October 2015. Retrieved from
Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Brochure. National University Blackboard. Retrieved from
https://nu.blackboard.comon 25 July 2018.
https://nu.blackboard.comon 25 July 2018.
Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Fundamentals. National University Blackboard. 13 October 2017.
Retrieved from
8_1&content_id=_5939970_1&mode=reset on 28 July 2018.
Edmund, Deborah. CELDT Video: Bootcamp. National University Blackboard. 24 October
2017. Retrieved from
8_1&content_id=_5939970_1&mode=reset on 28 July 2018.
What Methods are Used to Identify English Language Learners. (2014, November). Retrieved from http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquestNB2?rep=ELL1403.
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