BED 5325/TED 6319 - Course Information: Testing of Emergent Bilingual Learners

Oct 2, 2026

Uploaded by Aria

Course information for BED 5325/TED 6319 (3 graduate credit hours) introduces the history, theory, methods, and practice of testing emerging bilingual (EB) learners in formative and large-scale assessments. The course examines language proficiency and academic achievement, and evaluates effectiveness, validity, and fairness when designing and selecting assessments for specific EB student populations, contexts, and content. Students master learning outcomes including assessment decision-making, formative versus summative assessment types, and applying holistic bilingualism and translanguaging theories to support EB learners’ full potential.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Course Information

Course Description

Student Learning Outcomes

Course Organization on Blackboard

Required Text

Additional Readings Found on Blackboard

Course Content Alignment

Instructor: Vanessa Espitia Mendoza, PhD Email: [vespitiamendoza@utep.edu](vespitiamendoza@utep.edu) Text: Reminder, Class code @assessebs Officehours: Tuesday 5:00-7:00 pm MT via zoom and by appointment COURSE INFORMATION BED 5325/TED 6319 3 graduate credit hours Course Description: The course introduces students to the history, theory, methods, practice, and problems in the testing of emerging bilingual (EB) learners in formative and in large-scale assessments. Topics addressed include the assessment of language proficiency and academic achievement in EB students. Issues of effectiveness, validity, and fairness in the testing of EB populations are addressed to emphasize a critical examination of the purpose, use, methods, and appropriate selection of assessments to match the student population, context, and content. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will: 1. synthesize knowledge of the history, major approaches and current issues and trends in the assessment of bilingual learners 2. demonstrate an understanding of the challenges (e.g., cultural and linguistic bias; political, social and psychological factors) with assessment and accountability for EB students 3. understand how language proficiency affects EB students’ performance on different assessments 4. apply a decision-making framework to select appropriate methods of assessment for EB students which includes identifying the purpose, use, methods, and instrument 5. demonstrate understanding of various types of assessments including formative and summative 6. apply theories of holistic bilingualism and translanguaging to assessment practices to understand EB students’ full linguistic and academic potential [7.](7. be)[ be](7. be) able to advocate for appropriate test-use policies and practices for EB students COURSE ORGANIZATION ON BLACKBOARD This course is designed using a modular format—that is, each week is “packaged” as a single module so that all the materials, lecture notes, submission areas, readings are in one area for a given week. This course runs on a weekly schedule, Monday through Sunday. The class sessions for each week are labeled by week number and start date in the home page of our course site. In each of the weekly class sessions, you will find: the topic(s) and objectives for the week, the required readings, a summary of what tasks are due (and when) . Clicking within each week, will provide embedded links with headings to readings, videos, assignments with directions and rubrics, and related class materials. REQUIRED TEXT: • Mahoney, K. (2017) . The assessment of emergent bilingual learners: Supporting English language learners. Multilingual Matters. Additional Readings Found on BlackBoard: • Alvarez, L., Ananda, S., Walqui, A., Sato, E., & Rabinowitz, S. (2014) . Focusing formative assessment on the needs of English language learners. WestEd. • Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2018) . Translanguaging and responsive assessment adaptations: Emergent bilingual readers through the lens of possibility. Language Arts, 95(6), 355- 369. • Butvilofsky, S.A., Escamilla, K, Gumina, D., & Silva Diaz, E. (2021) . Beyond monolingual reading assessments for bilingual learners: Expanding the understanding of biliteracy assessment. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(1), 53-70. • Cavazos, L. O., & Ortiz, A. A. (2020) . Incorporating oral language assessment into MTSS/RTI frameworks: the potential of personal narrative assessment. Bilingual Research Journal, 43(3), 323-344. • Fine, C. G. M., & Furtak, E. M. (2020) . A framework for science classroom assessment task design for emergent bilingual learners. Science Education, 104(3), 393-420. • García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2010) . Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English language learners. Teachers College Press. • Knoester, M., & Meshulam, A. (2020) . Beyond deficit assessment in bilingual primary s

FAQs

What course texts and readings are required or included?

A required text is Mahoney (2017), and additional readings are provided on Blackboard, including works on formative assessment for English language learners and translanguaging and responsive assessment adaptations.

Oct 2, 2026

Uploaded by Aria