SGER: Teacher-adapted versus linguistically simplified items in the testing of English language learners

本研究旨在探讨英语学习者学业成绩测量的有效性，以及对有效测试英语学习者的方法的需求。在这项研究中，我们将探讨的可靠性措施的数学成绩产生的两种形式的住宿ELL学生：语言简化和教师适应。在前者中，一组专业人员修改项目的措辞，以减少他们的语言要求，然后给所有学生的目标人群的ELL修改项目的单一集合。在后一种情况下，教师根据他们对所在社区使用的语言的了解修改措辞;然后向每个社区的学生提供经过修改的项目的当地版本。语言简化虽然有效，但在减少语言对英语学习成绩的影响方面只产生了有限的效果。教师适应的有效性研究才刚刚开始。迄今为止的证据表明，这种有希望的适应形式对语言引起的微妙但重要的变化很敏感。在这个项目中，我们将组装一个由30个数学项目组成的测试。从这个原始版本的测试，我们将创建两个版本，语言简化和教师适应。母语为西班牙语的ELL学生将在这三个版本中的两个版本（原始和语言简化，原始和教师改编，或语言简化和教师改编）中采取相同的项目。我们将通过检查学生在语言简化版和教师改编版考试中获得的平均分数之间的差异，以及这些版本与原始版本之间的差异，来评估这两种形式的调整的有效性。此外，基于概化（G）理论“测量误差理论”，我们将评估每个测试版本获得的分数的可靠性以及每个测试版本所需的项目数量，以便能够对学生的知识领域进行有效的概括。

This project addresses the validity of academic achievement measures for English language learners (ELLs) and the need for effective approaches to testing these students. In this study, we will examine the dependability of measures of mathematics achievement produced by two forms of accommodation for ELL students: linguistic simplification and teacher adaptation. In the former, a team of professionals modifies the wording of the items with the intent to reduce their linguistic demands; then a single set of modified items is given to all students in the target population of ELLs. In the latter, teachers modify the wording based on their knowledge of the language used in their communities; then students from each community are given local versions of the adapted items. While effective, linguistic simplification has produced only modest results in reducing the impact of language on ELL performance on tests. The effectiveness of teacher adaptation has just begun to be investigated. Evidence thus far shows that this promising form of accommodation is sensitive to subtle but important variations due to language. In this project, we will assemble a test composed of 30 mathematics items. From this original version of the test, we will create two versions, linguistically simplified and teacher-adapted. ELL students who are native speakers of Spanish will take the same set of items in two of these three versions (original and linguistically simplified, original and teacher adapted, or linguistically simplified and teacher adapted). We will assess the effectiveness of the two forms of accommodation by examining the differences between the mean scores obtained by the students on the linguistically simplified and teacher-adapted test versions and between each of these versions and the original version of the test. Also, based on generalizability (G) theory "a theory of measurement error" we will assess the dependability of the scores obtained with each test version and the number of items that are needed with each test version in order to be able to make valid generalizations about the students' knowledge of the domain.