Notion Into Practice:
A Systematic Testing Program for All LEP
Students in a Large Urban District

Cecilia Oakeley and Hua Yang
Dallas Independent School District

Introduction

With an unprecedented wave of immigrants sweeping the country, the number of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in the public schools has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. Nationally, according to the data submitted by state education agencies to the U.S. Department of Education, from 1990-91 to 1994-95, the number of LEP students increased 44.8%, from 2,198,778 to 3,184,696 (Silcox, 1997). In the Dallas Independent School District, one of the largest school districts in the country, the number of eligible LEP students has almost tripled over the last 14 years. In 1995-96, there were 41,807 eligible LEP students in the district, accounting for nearly 30% of the total district population and representing a 15% increase over 1994-95 (Oakeley, July 1996).

The rapid increase in LEP students is a major cause in the soaring district budget for bilingual education (BE) and English as the Second Language (ESL) programs. With greater financial obligations, the demand for accountability from various education agencies at local, state, and national levels is increasing. Such demand was intensified with the current nationwide effort for setting high academic standards for all children, including LEP students. Under those conditions, the needs to assess the language development and academic progress of LEP students and to evaluate the effects of BE/ESL programs are assuming a top priority among local school administrators. Inclusion of LEP students in the large-scale testing programs to maximize the representativeness of students for accountability becomes an urgent task.

However, assessment of LEP students has always been a difficult and controversial issue. Traditionally, LEP students were often excluded from large-scale testing programs for various reasons (McDonnell, 1993). One concern originated from the historical implication that standardized tests may inadequately measure language minority students’ cognitive ability (due to their low level of English proficiency) and, thus, categorized them into inappropriate classroom situations (Mclean, 1995). Other related concerns include the lack of test accommodations or adaptations for these students, which prompted school staff to believe these students could not participate meaningfully in the standardized tests. Nationally, prior to 1995, about half or more of identified LEP students were excluded from the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) assessment based on specific criteria used with NAEP (NCES, July 1996).

Only recently, a growing censuses is emerging among educators and educational researchers of BE/ESL programs that exclusion of LEP students from large-scale testing programs due to their lack of English proficiency is not appropriate if schools and districts are held accountable for the performance of all of their students (Special Issues Analysis Center, 1994). As researchers have realized that:

"Evaluating these students without consideration for their special language needs is not an option; neither is removing them from all testing situation until they have learned enough English. Both scenarios neglect the need for information on the educational progress of the linguistically and culturally diverse segment of our school population and the programs that serve them." (Anstrom, 1997)