English Learners and Constructed-Response Science Test Items Challenges and Opportunities

This article reports on two quantitative studies of English learners' (ELs) interactions with constructed-response items from a Grade 5 state science test. Study 1 investigated the relationships between the constructed-response item-level variables of English Reading Demand, English Writing Dem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational assessment 2023-10, Vol.28 (4), p.246-272
Main Authors: Noble, Tracy, Wells, Craig S., Rosebery, Ann S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessment
Constructed Response
Educational evaluation
Elementary school students
English as a second language
English as a second language learning
English proficiency
Language proficiency
Large-scale Assessment
Quantitative analysis
Reading-writing relationship
Science education
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Summary:This article reports on two quantitative studies of English learners' (ELs) interactions with constructed-response items from a Grade 5 state science test. Study 1 investigated the relationships between the constructed-response item-level variables of English Reading Demand, English Writing Demand, and Background Knowledge Demand and the performance of ELs vs. non-ELs on those items. English Writing Demand was the strongest predictor of Differential Item Functioning favoring non-ELs over ELs for constructed-response items. In Study 2, we investigated the student-level variable of English language proficiency level and found that lower English language proficiency was related to greatly increased odds of omitting a response to a constructed-response item, even when controlling for science proficiency. These findings challenge the validity of scores on constructed-response test items as measures of ELs' science proficiency.
ISSN:1062-7197
1532-6977
DOI:10.1080/10627197.2023.2226387