This paper is a review of the literature on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) and student achievement when learning English as a second language.
Abstract This paper explains that the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) is used as a means of evaluating language proficiency among students learning English as a second language to identify students who are learning English as a second language. The author points out that the CELDT also is used to monitor the performance of these students at regular intervals and to reclassify students from limited English proficiency to fluent English proficiency. The paper stresses that CELDT is a monitoring system, not a pedagogical approach; therefore, its use will never directly improve or diminish the scores of second language learners. The paper concludes that administrators and educators may have unwittingly created a setting in which the CELDT is given more credibility than it deserves in terms of its significance as a testing apparatus.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
CELDT in Application
Implications
Conclusion
From the Paper "The test was used for the first time in 2001, suggesting that data pertaining to its use is insufficient to judge long-term outcomes based on the use of the test. The CELDT was developed by the professional for-profit test organization, "CTB-McGraw Hill" and is "designed to assess English learners in grades 1 through 12 on reading, writing, comprehension, and oral English along a continuum of five levels, from Beginning (1) to Advanced (5)" The test has been praised in California by educators and administrators who were forced to rely on a variety of different tests but now can evaluate a student's performance even when he or she has moved from one school to another."
Abstract The pros and cons of bilingual education continue as an argued debate across the United States. Unfortunately, much of the information on which people base their opinion is not correct. Numerous studies conducted over the past three decades show that bilingual education has been an effective educational tool. This paper shows that educators and other bilingual specialists are now also looking into other methodology, such as two-way or dual immersion, that can enhance the basic bilingual curriculum.
From the Paper "Schools are finding that language development works both ways. Many Native American children, for example, have forgotten or have never known their original languages. So that the languages are not forgotten, kindergarten students learn everything from colors to numbers to animal names in Cherokee. Students are called by their native Indian names and speak in Cherokee for most of the day. These kindergartners are in the first Cherokee-immersion class in a U.S. public school. By teaching kids Cherokee and not just English, Lost City School in Oklahoma is working to help save a dying language."
