2004 Immersion Conference Presentation

How to Use Assessment and Evaluation to Promote Quality Immersion Programs and Student Outcomes in the Era of NCLB
Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Ph.D.
Professor, San Jose State University

We are moving through a challenging era for immersion education – the NCLB era. In this era of high stakes testing, all of us as teachers, administrators, and researchers are increasingly asked to provide proof that our students – of diverse language, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds – are academically successful. This plenary session will examine two key sources of evidence that will enable schools to demonstrate this student success, as well as to promote high quality programs, and to support and improve practice. One major source of evidence relies on the decades of research and program evaluation, which provide consistent verification that well-designed models of immersion education (one-way, two-way, heritage) are effective in promoting bilingualism, biliteracy, content area achievement, and positive cross-cultural attitudes. The second key source involves a carefully developed assessment program. As I will discuss in more detail, a well-designed assessment program is comprehensive, educationally sound and theoretically driven, and provides meaningful data to support and improve practice and student success within the immersion context.

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