1. 1 Overview, Use and Importance of NYSESLAT Presenters: Ileana Olazagasti and Vanessa Lee Mercado Office of State Assessment

2. 2 Who is a Limited English Proficient (LEP) Student?

3. 3 The myths …… … there is no clear State definition... who knows? … there are only a few LEPs. … they are all Spanish speakers. … they all live in New York City.

4. 4 Fact: Key to Services Begins with Appropriate Identification … Home Language Questionnaire (HLQ) - A student from a home where a language other than English is spoken and speaks little or no English …. (CR Part 154) Informal Interview (English/NL) Assessment (LAB-R/NYSESLAT)

5. 5 Fact: LEPs are at all grade levels.

6. 6 Fact: Top Languages Spoken by New York State LEP Students LanguageTotals Spanish119,383 Chinese4980 Arabic4296 Bengali4014 Russian3348 Urdu3211 Haitian-Creole3188

7. 7 2007 NYSESLAT Public School Distribution DistributionNumberPercent New York City133,94769.8 Rest of State58,05830.2

8. 8 Testing of LEP students NCLB requires that the English proficiency of all LEP students (as defined in Education Law § 3204[2-a][3]) be determined annually. New York State provides the NYSESLAT as the assessment of English language proficiency for LEP students.

9. 9 Testing of LEP Students All LEP students, regardless of grade, must take the NYSESLAT. LEP students must take this assessment to evaluate English proficiency even if they take a grades 3-8 ELA assessment, the Regents Comprehensive Examination in English or, for certain LEP students with disabilities, an RCT in reading or writing or the NYSAA in ELA in the 2007-2008 academic year.

10. 10 2007 NYSESLAT The NYSESLAT operational test was administered in Spring 2007 to 192,005 public school and 14,842 nonpublic LEP students across New York State.

11. 11 Understanding the Process Design test specifications-”test blueprint”. Solicit and train item writers. Passage Review: select passages for the field test items. Item Review Committee: review and edit submitted items. Field Test forms; scan field test; score items.

12. 12 Understanding the Process (continued) Range Finding: select anchor and training set papers. Perform item and test analysis. Select items for the operational form of the test. Standard Setting Study: determine student performance levels through standard setting study- “cut scores”.

13. 13 Update on the Administration of the 2008 NYSESLAT Important Dates Test ActivityTarget Dates Schools order tests via Spectrum Online Ordering System January-March Spring 2008 Field Testing-Speaking, Listening, Reading and writing (Selected schools will be contacted directly by Harcourt) March 27-April 4 Operational Speaking AdministrationApril 14-May 16 Operational Listening, Reading and Writing Administration May 5-May 16 Scoring of Constructed ResponsesMay 19-30 Return booklets to Harcourt Assessment Inc.June 6 Scores Available to Schools (approx.)August

14. 14 Recruitment It is very important to NYSED that we develop fair and valid tests for the NYSESLAT Testing Program on an annual basis. Therefore, we are requesting certified NYS bilingual, ESL, and ELA teachers that are interested in participating as a committee member to complete and submit a Teacher Recruitment Form. The form can be found online at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/nyseslat/recruitment.htm

15. 15 For More Information and Updates about the NYSESLAT go to: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/nyseslat/home.shtml All test related questions can be sent to: emscassessinfo@mail.nysed.gov