Assessing Multilingual Learners: A Month-by-Month Guide (ASCD Arias), June/2017

While students who enter a new school must learn to adapt to a new situation, multilingual students who enter a new school must often first learn to adapt to a new country and a new language—and they must be assessed along with their peers.

In Assessing Multilingual Learners, author Margo Gottlieb presents the story of Ana, a newcomer to the United States and the American school system and, in a month-by-month format, reveals how assessment affects students, teachers, families, and school leaders. This book shows teachers how to collect, analyze, and act upon data about multilingual learners, with the goal of improving instruction for this large and growing population of students.

About the Author:

Margo Gottlieb is co-founder and lead developer for WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and former director, assessment and evaluation, at the Illinois Resource Center. Gottlieb, who began her career as an ESL and bilingual teacher, has worked with schools, school districts, states, governments, and universities. Over the last decade, she has focused on creating English-language proficiency/development standards for multiple entities, designing student-centered assessment systems, and crafting comprehensive curricular frameworks around academic language use. Gottlieb has presented in 19 countries and 44 states. Her publications include more than 80 articles, monographs, handbooks, and book chapters. She has authored and coauthored several books on language proficiency standards, academic language in diverse classrooms, assessment and accountability, common language assessment, and assessment of English-language learners.