ABSTRACT
Chapter Overview This chapter expands the exploration of how differences in students and assessments affect assessment performance. It focuses on the interpretation of ELL student scores earned on assessments that target students’ knowledge and skills in academic domains such as reading, mathematics, science, and other subject matter areas taught in K-12 education. It also addresses the interpretation of ELL students’ scores on language proficiency assessments. The central question that is the focus of the chapter is: “How can we interpret scores on achievement or language proficiency assessments so that we can accurately gauge the capabilities, learning needs, and learning progress of an ELL student in the domain assessed?” This is a fundamental question that underlies the “validity” of an assessment for ELL students and, for that matter, students at large.1
