Most English learners with significant cognitive disabilities are not included in assessments of English language proficiency. As a result, there is little evidence of how these students are progressing toward English mastery to ensure their success in school and on the path to college, career, and community readiness.  One new project underway at NCEO, the Alternate English Language Learning Assessment (ALTELLA) Project, aims to change this.

The ALTELLA project will apply the lessons learned from the past decade of research on assessing English language learners (ELLs) and students with significant cognitive disabilities to develop an English Language Proficiency assessment for ELLs with significant cognitive disabilities. The project’s goal is to establish a foundational knowledge base to support the development of an alternate assessment of English language development.

The project will develop an Individual Characteristics Questionnaire to learn more about who the students are who would participate in an alternate ELP assessment. It will also gather information from teachers and classroom about instructional and assessment strategies that are successful with English learners with significant cognitive disabilities.

The project will identify assessment approaches and create templates for states to use as models for future alternate ELP assessment development, as well as develop an RFP template to support continued development of the assessment.

ALTELLA is a collaboration of states that includes Arizona (lead), Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, and West Virginia, in partnership with NCEO.

“This project addresses a small, but important gap in the assessment of English language learners,” says Martha Thurlow, NCEO’s Director. “We know from other work in alternate assessment that proficiency for these students may not look the same as it does for other English language learners, and the ALTELLA Project will bring together states and national experts to address this important issue.”