Evaluating an ELPA21 
Sample item: Language Arts Presentation Script: “Listen to a student presenting a book report. Then, you will record your answer to three questions about the report. This is my science fiction book report. The title of the book is Robots and Rainbows. The author of the book is Cecile Ray. The setting is a community on the moon. The main characters are Ava Lang and Davie Wing. The summary of the book is Ava Lang is a clumsy robot that is helping build houses for humans on the moon. She is a hard worker, but she never makes any progress because she has lots of accidents. Her boss isn’t very nice and he makes Ava nervous. Ava becomes friends with another worker named Davie Wing. Davie gives Ava a tool that helps her learn to love her work. Who is the author of the book and where does the story take place?
ELPA21 Kindergarten listening and ELPA21 Practice writing assessment.
The provided information about the ELPA21 Kindergarten listening assessment and the sample writing assessment prompt allows us to analyze how they might embody the five principles of assessment outlined by Gottlieb (pp. 20-38, pp. 123-128). Here's a breakdown of how these assessments might adhere to the five principles:
1. Validity:
· Listening Assessment: Understanding the author and setting of a book report are relevant skills for kindergarten listening comprehension. However, assessing these details based solely on a student report might not fully capture a student's ability to understand spoken language in various contexts.
· Writing Assessment: Creating a list of questions demonstrates the ability to formulate questions based on a listening passage. This indirectly tests comprehension skills.
2. Reliability:
· Listening Assessment: The use of a standardized recording and set questions can promote consistency across administrations.
· Writing Assessment: Clear instructions and scoring rubrics (if provided) can ensure consistent evaluation across different scorers.
3. Practicality:
· Listening Assessment: Assuming the listening passage is age-appropriate and the questions are clear, this assessment could be practical for a classroom setting.
· Writing Assessment: Creating a list of questions is a manageable task for kindergarten students.
4. Equivalency:
· Listening Assessment: The use of a science fiction book report might disadvantage students unfamiliar with the genre.
· Writing Assessment: This task requires strong listening comprehension skills, potentially putting students with weaker listening abilities at a disadvantage.
5. Washback:
· Listening Assessment: The assessment could encourage teachers to incorporate book reports or similar listening activities into instruction.
· Writing Assessment: Knowing students can formulate questions based on listening passages can inform instruction on question formation and active listening skills.
Considerations for Fair Assessment:
· Age-appropriateness: The content and difficulty level of the listening passage and writing task should be appropriate for kindergarteners.
· Background Knowledge: Avoid topics or references that may disadvantage students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
· Multiple Response Options: Consider offering picture choices or other response formats alongside written answer options for the writing assessment.
Overall:
The ELPA21 Kindergarten assessments appear to have elements that address some of the five principles. However, considerations should be made to ensure greater fairness and comprehensiveness, especially regarding equivalency for students with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of English proficiency.
Additional Recommendations:
· Include visuals or manipulatives alongside the listening passage to support comprehension.
· Offer students the opportunity to listen to the passage multiple times.
· Provide sentence starters or question stems to scaffold writing for the writing assessment.
By incorporating these suggestions, the assessments can be more effective in measuring the true abilities of young ELs.
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