Determining the Academic Achievement of English Language Learners (ELLs) by Using Additional Measures of Growth

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of all the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed English language learners’ (ELLs) at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language acquisition (SLA) has stated the complexity involved in the learning/acquisition process of a target language. Scholars have also discussed the influence accountability measures and the issues with the validity of the tests implemented to assess ELLs may have on such results. Therefore, in an effort to obtain a more comprehensive idea of the academic achievement of ELLs in an inner-city school district in the Southeastern part of the United States, three additional measures of growth, along with the state standardized test, were utilized over a two-year period. The English language proficiency test, ACCESS for ELLs test scores, a computerized formative academic assessment, MAP test, end of the year grades for Reading and Mathematics, and the state standardized test, MCT2 test, were analyzed for the 2012-2013 and the 2013-2014 school years. Growth on the ACCESS for ELLs, MAP test scores, and MCT2 test scores were calculated using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Then, the relationship between the variables was analyzed using Pearson’s r correlation coefficients. The statistical analyses showed growth and relationships on some areas but not on others