The Relationship between English Proficiency and Content Knowledge for English Language Learner Students in Grades 10 and 11 in Utah. Issues &amp; Answers. REL 2011-No. 110
Author: Crane, Eric W.
Date: 2011-03-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Language Arts,Performance Based Assessment,Grade 11,Grade 10,Language Proficiency,English,Evaluation,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Comparative Analysis,Academic Achievement,Algebra,Geometry,Mathematics,Scores,Standards,High School Students,Secondary Education

This study examines the relationship between performance on Utah's English proficiency assessment and English language arts and mathematics content assessments by English language learner students and compares the performance of English language learner and non-English language learner students on the content assessments. Two research questions guided the study: (1) What is the distribution of performance of English language learner students in grades 10 and 11 on the Utah Academic Language Proficiency Assessment, compared with their performance on the English language arts and mathematics content assessments of the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students? and (2) How does the performance of English language learner students on the English language arts and mathematics content assessments of the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students compare with that of non-English language learner students, overall and by content standard? The Utah State Office of Education provided student-level datasets of all grade 10 and 11 students who took the language proficiency and content assessments in 2008/09. Findings include: Of grade 10 students who scored below intermediate on the language proficiency assessment, 6 percent scored 3 or 4 (the highest two scores) on the English language arts content assessment; of grade 10 students who scored intermediate on the language proficiency assessment, 14 percent scored 3 or 4 on the English language arts content assessment; and of grade 10 students who scored advanced on the language proficiency assessment, 59 percent scored 3 or 4 on the English language arts content assessment. Of grade 11 students who scored below intermediate on the language proficiency assessment, 1 percent scored 3 or 4 on the English language arts content assessment; of grade 11 students who scored intermediate on the language proficiency assessment, 9 percent scored 3 or 4 on the English language arts content assessment; and of grade 11 students who scored advanced on the language proficiency assessment, 33 percent scored 3 or 4 on the English language arts content assessment. The information from this study is expected to aid the Utah State Office of Education in generating descriptive information about English language learner students' performance on the language proficiency and content assessments, in informing ongoing discussions of rules related to when students should be moved out of English language learner status, and in helping the state agency's curriculum and instruction and assessment programs develop a richer understanding of English language learner students' performance on specific content. (Contains 5 tables, 10 figures, and 3 boxes.) [This report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory West administered by WestEd. For the summary, see ED516972.]