ELL Advocates Call for PARCC Tests in Spanish

From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2013/08/ell_advocates_call_for_parcc_t.html

ELL Advocates Call for PARCC Tests in Spanish
By Lesli A. Maxwell
August 5, 2013

A tricky issue facing both groups of states designing common tests for English/language arts and mathematics is whether to make native-language assessments available for students who are still learning English.

Neither the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) nor the Smarter Balanced consortia has publicly announced what it will do about native-language translations of the new tests. Both groups have member states with vastly different approaches to testing English-language learners. Arizona, for example, is an "English-only" member state in PARCC, while a fellow member, New York, requires that assessments be made available in multiple languages for students still learning English.

But now, a national civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, has weighed in and asked PARCC to develop Spanish-language assessments in both English/language arts and math.

Read the full article at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2013/08/ell_advocates_call_for_parcc_t.html