Resources from George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education

George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education

Resource Title: An Analysis of State Policies for the Inclusion and Accommodation of English Language Learners in State Assessment Programs during 1998-1999
Price: $10
Author: Charlene Rivera, Charles Stansfield, Lewis Scialdone, and Margaret Sharkey (Eds.)
Description: In addition, the 2001 report is supplemented by an online database that includes the following three search online engines at http://r3cc.ceee.gwu.edu/lepstatepolicyreport/Search.asp: 1. Search State Policies - This search presents a list of general policy items such as "State has a policy regarding inclusion/exemption." Selecting policy items from the list and pressing the search button returns a list of states that address the policy items selected. 2. Search Inclusion and Accommodation Decision and Criteria - This search presents a list of decision makers such as students, parents, and teachers as well as a list of criteria such as time in U.S. and time in state's schools. The decision and criteria items can be applied to either inclusion/exemption policy or accommodation policy. 3. Search Accommodation Policies - This search presents a list of accommodations and allows the user to specify whether a certain accommodation is allowed on some components, all components, or not at all. This section also allows the user to specify whether or not state policy indicates that scores are reported when different accommodations are used.

Resource Title: Brokering External Policies to Raise Student Achievement: The Case of Plainfield, New Jersey School District
Price: free
Author: Marilyn Muirhead
Description: This report examines the actions taken by Plainfield Public School District (PPS) -- one of the districts affected by the 1998 New Jersey State Supreme Court Abbott decision -- to implement the Abbott policy. Plainfield provides an example of a district that has adopted a CSR model and experienced a significant increase in language arts literacy achievement results across all its elementary schools.

Resource Title: Promoting Excellence Series
Price: $8 for set
Author: CEEE
Description: This series of publications is designed to provide tools for those seeking sound, research-based models and strategies for the design or evaluation of services for English Language Learners.

Resource Title: State Assessment Policy and Practice for English Language Learners: A National Perspective
Author: Charlene Rivera and Eric Collum (Eds.)
Description: CEEE research around assessment policies for English language learners has resulted in several major national studies designed to build an understanding of states' strategies for including this student group. This volume contains 3 studies: 1. Analysis of State Assessment Policies Regarding Accommodations for ELLs 2. A Survey and Description of Test Translation Practices 3. Examination of State Practices for Reporting Participation and Performance of English Language Learners in State Assessment

Resource Title: Technical Assistance Briefs: Literacy Tutor-Training Manual
Price: free
Author: Judy Blankenship Cheatham
Description: This accessible, jargon-free tutor-training manual can help any motivated adult make a difference in the life of a child who needs help improving his or her reading skills. The manual addresses: * Best practices for tutoring children; * Appropriate children's books; * Assessment and instruction; * Working with the classroom teacher; * Adaptation of content-area materials to tutoring situations; * Age appropriateness and its relationship to tutoring; * Working with the English language learner; * Emerging literacy; * Responsibilities and legal issues; and * Documentation