Week2Phillips,Kerry

Assignment2CELDTandELPACComparison

1. WhatarethemajordifferencesbetweentheCELDTandtheELPAC?

TherearemanydifferencesbetweentheCELDTandtheELPACassessments.Oneofthemajordifferences
isthattheCELDTiscomprisedofoneexamandisusedfortwopurposes,whichmaycallintoquestionthe
reliabilityoftheexam.Reliabilityofanassessmentrefersto,howconsistentlyanassessmentmeasureswhatit
isintendedtomeasure(CDE,p.868).Validityalsocomesintoplayhere,asnoassessmentisvalidforall
purposes(CDE,p.868).Thisisimportanttonotebecauseadiagnosticassessmentcanhaveahighvalidityfor
identifyingatypeofdecodingproblem,amoderatevalidityindiagnosingcomprehensionproblemsandalow
validityinidentifyingvocabularyknowledgedifficulties(p.868).TheCELDTassessmenthasbeenusedto
identify,place,andassessproficiencylevels,whichcallsintoquestioniftheassessmentistrulyassessingwhat
itwasdesignedto.Moreover,thisreferstothevalidityoftheinferencesorinterpretationsthatcanbemade
fromatestresult.Thenewassessment(ELPAC)isworkingtoimprovetheseareasbyofferingindividual
assessmentsforthetwodifferentpurposes:initialidentificationandannualsummativeassessment.Bycreating
anassessmentforidentificationandaseparateassessmenttomeasureannualachievement,thereliabilityofthe
assessmentimproves.Anotherdifferencebetweentheseassessmentsisthenumberofproficiencylevelsbeing
measuredtheCELDTmeasuring5proficiencylevelsandtheELPACmeasuring3levels(beginning,
expanding,andbridging).TheCELDThasalwaysbeenadministeredviapaperandpencil,andtheELPACwill
continuealongthesamepathwiththepotentialtotransitionintoacomputerbasedassessment.Anotherbig
differencebetweentheseassessmentsisthewindowoftestingCELDTtestinghasbeenadministeredatthe
beginningoftheschoolyear(JulyOctober),likelytoassistinplacementandidentification.TheELPAC
testingwindowisproposedtooccurFebruaryMay,whichallowsformoreinstructionaltimeandpreparation.
AslightdifferenceworthmentioningbetweentheCELDTandELPACarethegradespansoftheactual
assessment.TheCELDThasbeendividedinto5gradespans,andtheELPAChasadjustedthistoinclude7
gradespans.Lastly,adifferenceidentifiedbetweentheCELDTandELPACarehowtheperformancelevels
willbemeasuredCELDTbeing5andELPACat4performancelevels.
2. When will the ELPAC assessment results for both the Initial and the Summative be fully
operational?

According to the California Department of Education website, California is in the process of transitioning
from the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) to the English Language Proficiency
Assessments for California (ELPAC). The CELDT will continue to be administered until the ELPAC becomes
operational. According to the CELDT to ELPAC Proposed Transition Timeline, published on the CDE
webpage, the ELPAC began pilot testing in some school districts between 2015-2016. Further field tests
have been administered is to gather information on the performance of items that will inform final
decisions related to test length, test composition, and score scales to ensure the ELPAC is valid and
reliable. In the spring of 2018, the ELPAC Summative Assessment will become operational, and on July 1,
2018, the ELPAC Initial Assessment will also become operational. The timeline projects that by the 2018-
2019 school year, ELPAC assessments will be fully operational, and the CELDT will no longer be
administered.

3. What will be used to determine proficiency levels of English Learners between now and
that time?

As mentioned above, the CELDT will continue to be administered as usual throughout the 2016 and 2017
school years. The spring of 2017 is when a group of schools participating in a pilot program will
participate in the ELPAC Summative Assessment field test. The California Department of Education states,
In 2017-18, the CELDT will be administered for the purpose of initial identification only from July 1, 2017
to June 30, 2018. In Fall 2017, field testing for the ELPAC Initial Assessment will occur. The transition
period will continue until the projected goal - ELPAC being fully operational by the 2018-19 school year.
 4. What are the test items on the ELPAC based on? Why was the change necessary?

The ELPAC test items are aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards,
which have three proficiency levels (emerging, expanding, and bridging). This change was necessary
because the CELDT assessment was aligned to the 1999 California English Language Development (ELD)
Standards five proficiency levels. According to the Proposed Test Blueprint Chart, the CDE states, the
listening and reading task types that were adapted from CELDT components will include new types of
questions that are designed to assess features of the 2012 ELD Standards. The other 25 ELPAC task types
that do not appear on the above chart were specially designed to assess the 2012 ELD Standards. This
really clarifies the need for an updated assessment, as the listening and reading task types were modified,
the other 25 task types were not included in the CELDT assessment. It is important that the assessment
is aligned with the most current ELD standards, and the ELPAC has been written to do just that. The ELD
standards were developed to correspond to the 2010 California Common Core State Standards for English
Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CDE, 2016). It is
astonishing that when the CELDT assessment was evaluated for compliance to the standards only seven
of the 32 task types are adapted from components of the California English Language Development Test
(CELDT) that were found to be aligned with the 2012 ELD Standards (2016). The ELPAC assessment is
remedying this misalignment to ensure the 2012 standards are included in the new assessment.

5. What is your personal experience with the CELDT and/or ELPAC?

Personally,IhavenoexperiencewiththeELPACassessmentasitissonewandhasnotreachedaschoolIhave
workedin.However,IdohavesomeexperiencewiththeCELDTexam.Ihaveadministeredtheassessmentto
aroomfullofmiddleschoolstudentsthatspeakSpanishathome.Myjobmucheasierthantheirsreadthe
Teacherscriptandmakesurethetestingenvironmentwasnotdisrupted.Itseemedpainfulforthestudents,but
fordrasticallydifferentreasons.Somestudentsmockedtheexamforbeingtooeasy,whilestudentsdisplayed
obviousanxietyaroundtheexam,aswritinginEnglishappearedtobeanagonizingfeat.
AnotherexperienceIhavewiththisexam,broughtmemuchclosertothetestitems.Iworkedasan
EducationalInterpreterfortheDeaf,andalthoughmystudentsthemselvesdidnotspeakSpanish,theirHome
LanguageSurveyreportedthatthehomelanguagewasSpanish.So,thereIwasinaroomwith3completely
deafstudents,interpretingthetestasawomanadministeredthespeakingandlisteningcomponents.Thisfelt
veryuncomfortable,andIwasgladtoseeinthepowerpointthisweekthatstudentswithdisabilitiestakingthe
CELDTisinfactsomethingthatraisesalotofquestions.Iwasinterpretingthespokenpartofthetestinto
AmericanSignLanguage,forastudentthatstruggledwithEnglish,becauseherparentsspeakSpanishathome.
Itfeltveryoverwhelming,andIcouldseemystudentsstrugglingwiththetest.TherewereitemsthatIcould
seewerechallengingforthestudents,andIwasempatheticbecauseIfelttheywerenotrelevant.Onethathas
stuckwithmeforawhileisaskingthestudenttotellmethenameof(*pointstoimageofafloppydisk*).This
particularstudentwashighlymotivatedandoftenwouldworryaboutperformingwell,sowhenshewasunable
toidentifytheobject,sheaskedmefordayslaterwhatisitcalled?,whatisitfor?,etc.ThisiswhenI
personallyexperiencedsomeissueswithbiasontheexam.Biascanoccurwhen,thetestincludesvocabulary
thatisunfamiliartostudentsbecauseoftheirgeographicallocationorculture.Biasmayalsooccurifthetest
containsimagesthataremorefamiliartoonegrouporanother(CDE,p.869).Ifeelthisexamplewasbiasfor
afewreasons,onethisstudentinparticulardefinitelyisataneconomicdisadvantage,andsoitwouldbebiased
toassumeshedbeenexposedtotechnology.Second,Ifeelthetestquestionisbiasedbecauseitcontainedan
imagethatismorefamiliartoothergroupsofpeoplee.g.olderpeople.Itisnotreasonabletoassumethata9
yearoldchildcouldidentifyanimageofafloppydiskintheyear2014.
Thispastyear,Itaughta4thgradeclassanddidnothaveanystudentsstilllabeledasEnglishLearners;Idid,
however,have7studentsthathadRFEPd.Idefinitelyusedmyunderstandingofthesestudentsprevious
CELDTscoresandtheircurrentacademicperformancesanddiagnosticassessmentstodetermineappropriate
readinggroups,partners,etc.Ithinkitsimportanttosaythatevenifastudentisnolongerclassifiedasan
EnglishLearner,itisstillsomethinganeducatorneedstobemindfulofandmonitorbecausetherearemany
aspectsoftheEnglishlanguagethatcaneasilybetakenforgranted.
Resources:

California Department of Education (CDE). English Language Arts, English Language Development
Framework for CA Public Schools,(2014). Chapter 8- pages 866-869. Retrieved July 18, 2017 from:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/documents/elaeldfwchapter8.pdf

California Department of Education (CDE). (2012). Released Test Questions Update. ). Retrieved July 18,
2017 from: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/el/documents/celdtrtqs9-2012.pdf

California Department of Education (CDE). (2016). EnglishLanguageProficiencyAssessmentsforCalifornia

(ELPAC).Retrieved July 18, 2017 from:http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ep/

Lambert,Kris(n.d.)CELDTPowerpoint(part1&2).RetrievedJuly19,2017from:
https://ucsdextension.blackboard.com/courses/1/124853_SU17_OL/content/_2328171_1/dir_!
43454c4454204f7665727669657720636f6e74696e7565645f32.zip/index.htm