Alabama Administrative Code › Title 290 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 290-030-040 - REGULATORY SERVICES › Section 290-030-040-.02 - Alabama English Language Proficiency Testing Program

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) General Information.
(a) The Alabama English Language Proficiency
			 Testing Program Registration Bulletin has been produced for the Alabama State
			 Department of Education by National Evaluation Systems, Inc. of Amherst,
			 Massachusetts, which is under contract to the Alabama State Department of
			 Education to administer the Alabama English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT).
			 The purpose of the Alabama English Language Proficiency Test Program
			 Registration Bulletin is to provide general information concerning the testing
			 program and instructions for registering for the test. You may request
			 additional information about the ELPT Program from the education department of
			 the institution you are currently attending, or from the Alabama State
			 Department of Education, Teacher Education Office, 347 State Office Building,
			 Montgomery, Alabama 36130, Telephone 205/832-3830.
(b) Scope.
1. The Alabama State Board of Education has
			 adopted a resolution which mandates that undergraduates seeking to enter
			 teacher training programs be required to demonstrate minimum proficiency in the
			 English language. The English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) has been
			 designed to measure this competence. The test is administered four times a year
			 at selected teacher education colleges and universities throughout Alabama. The
			 State Superintendent of Education shall establish English Language Proficiency
			 Test dates and may establish additional administrations of the tests.
2. An individual must obtain a minimum
			 overall standard score of 70 in order to pass the English Language Proficiency
			 Test.
(c) Who Must Take
			 the Test?
1. All teacher education candidates
			 entering teacher education programs as of January 1, 1982, and thereafter, must
			 pass the English Language Proficiency Test.
2. The ELPT may be taken at the student's
			 discretion at any time prior to entering a teacher education program.
			 Therefore, the test will be open to college/university freshmen if they desire
			 to take the test during their freshman year.
3. The ELPT is criterion-referenced and
			 competency-based. A criterion-referenced test is designed to measure knowledge
			 and skills in relation to an established standard of competence (criterion)
			 rather than in relation to the performance of other candidates.
(d) Nature of the Test. The
			 English Language Proficiency Test comprises four different parts. Each part
			 involves a different type of test question, and some of these types may be new
			 to you. Below is a brief description of each part. (The objectives on which the
			 test is based are available from the Dean of Education of your college or
			 university.)
1. Part One: Writing. For the
			 first portion of the test, you will be required to produce a sample of
			 expository writing in response to an essay question. The response will be based
			 on your experience and not on factual knowledge. You will have 40 minutes to
			 write your response.
2. Part Two:
			 Listening. The second portion, which will last 30 minutes, is a test of
			 listening skills. You will listen to taped readings of various forms of prose,
			 then answer multiple-choice questions based on each reading.
3. Part Three: Reading Comprehension. The
			 reading comprehension portion is composed of reading passages in which some of
			 the words have been replaced by blanks. You will read each passage, then choose
			 the correct word (from five choices) to fit in each blank.
4. Part Four: Language Skills. Each test
			 question in the fourth section is multiple-choice, with four possible answers,
			 related to language skills (e.g., grammar, vocabulary)