Schools function best when they follow processes. Students, families, and staff know what to expect. Everything stays in compliance with state and federal laws. We follow the process year after year. Fine tuning and increasing efficiency until a pandemic hits. Then, we scramble.
At the start of every year new students who may qualify for English Language (EL) support services in Washington state take the ELPA21 screener. I wrote a previous blog post that went into greater detail about the test, but here’s a quick overview: students new to the school qualify to take the test based on answers given on school registration forms. The test is mostly taken by incoming Kindergarten students and a few older students, who are either new to the country or state.
As a result of the pandemic no students at my school took the ELPA21 screener.
Therefore, every child, whose families indicated their first language as other than English or that they speak a language other than English at home, became a provisional EL student. They received EL services.
About a month and a half ago my school transitioned from a fully online learning model to a hybrid model with the option for families to stay fully online. Almost immediately the state wanted every student attending school in person to take the ELPA21 summative assessment within a very narrow time period. Provisional EL students needed to begin taking the test within a week.
Terrible for those children and for the teachers. On an additional note, state testing is taking away learning time for all students and that time could be used way more effectively. Example – I taught 6th grade math last year. Usually, state testing – preparation and taking it – prevents getting to Geometry which they build on in the 7th grade. Our scores show a need to grow in the Geometry category (duh). If time was spent on the the learning needed to for the next year/to complete the 6th grade, those scores would not be that low. That’s also, in my opinion, the real “learning loss” that is happening in schools – testing instead of learning.
This is so frustrating. I will never understand why in the midst of all this upheaval, schools and districts cling so desperately to these kinds of assessments.
Oh, those poor babies! Such confusion for them. And their parents. And such frustration for you!
I’m glad you got it all done, but I wish there could have been A Better Way.