ABSTRACT
Informed by research literature, this chapter analyzes key assessment issues and accountability trends in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs in the United States using cultural validity as a framework. This chapter reviews the relationship between language, literacy, achievement and culture, as well as the alignment and consistency between formative and summative assessment. Additionally, this chapter discusses how educational experiences, familial experiences and community contexts influence bilingual students’ achievement. This chapter also reviews the relationship between accountability, bilingualism and biliteracy, as well as the appropriateness and alignment of data collection and decision-making. Moreover, this chapter discusses the importance of multiple measures for program effectiveness. Synthesizing the research literature on assessment practices and accountability trends in DLBE, this chapter proposes pedagogical assessment knowledge, dispositions and skills as a conceptual model for DLBE assessment practices and accountability policies, offering implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers committed to sustaining the sociopolitical spirit of DLBE in PK-12 as well as higher education contexts. Conclusions include: (a) how equity may inform the measurement and monitoring of bilingualism, biliteracy and sociocultural competence, and (b) how fairness in assessment and accountability may be created and sustained in services, programs and systems.
