ERIC Number: EJ1026485
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Sep
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-3085
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
English Language Proficiency and Test Performance: An Evaluation of Bilingual Students with the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities
Sotelo-Dynega, Marlene; Ortiz, Samuel O.; Flanagan, Dawn P.; Chaplin, William F.
Psychology in the Schools, v50 n8 p781-797 Sep 2013
In this article, we report the findings of an exploratory empirical study that investigated the relationship between English Language Proficiency (ELP) on performance on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-Third Edition (WJ III) when administered in English to bilingual students of varying levels of ELP. Sixty-one second-grade students, identified as Limited English Proficient, were recruited from a suburban public school district and were given the WJ III in addition to their annual state standardized assessment of ELP. The findings of this study provide evidence to support a linear, inverse relationship between ELP and performance on tests that require higher levels of English language development and mainstream cultural knowledge. The implications of the findings of the present study suggest that practitioners must consider an examinee's level of developmental language proficiency and cultural knowledge acquisition as continuous variables when determining the impact of such factors on test performance and evaluation regarding whether scores obtained from tests administered in English are indeed valid for interpretation.
Descriptors: English Language Learners, Language Proficiency, Cognitive Ability, Cognitive Tests, Bilingual Students, Grade 2, Knowledge Level, Scores, Test Validity, Cultural Awareness, Evaluation
Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 2; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A