Beyond "teaching to the Test": Rethinking Accountability and Assessment for English Language Learners

The word accountability is everywhere in education today, but it means different things to different people. Speaking directly to teachers who work closely with English language learners, Betsy Gilliland and Shannon Pella examine essential questions in this age of accountability: What kind of accountability measures truly demonstrate multilingual students' learning? How do these measures reflect the planning and teaching that teachers do to help their students grow? Gilliland and Pella take readers into the classrooms of middle and high school teachers to illustrate accountability practices that exemplify the principles outlined in the NCTE Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs). What does accountability mean when teaching ELLs? In one sense, teacher support of student performance on standardized tests is accountability to grade-level standards. More important, however, teachers and schools are also accountable to the students throu