Driving Misdiagnosis:
Guidelines for Using
American English Standardized Tests with ELs/Bilingual Students
Educational assessment of multilingual learners (MLs/ELs) with disabilities, or who are suspected of having a disability,
is a highly regulated process under IDEA 2004 & Endrew F.2015, with explicit nondiscriminatory evaluation requirements.
These mandates intersect with two additional bodies of law: Language-Learning Education Laws (ESSA Titles I & III, State EL Program Requirements, LOOK Act 2017) and Civil Rights Laws (Title VI, EEOA, Lau v. Nichols, Castañeda v. Pickard), Section 504
Together, these three interacting legal requirements establish that English learners cannot be evaluated with assessment tools that are linguistically or culturally inappropriate, nor with tests that have not been validated for their language group (Serpa, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2006).
Prof. Serpa, M (2002, 2011, 2020) Prof. Crain de Galarce (2025) Lesley University
“Remember test limitations: a test is a snapshot, not a “movie” of the learner . ”
REFERENCES
Bracken, B. A. (1988). Ten psychometric reasons why similar tests produce dissimilar results. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 6(2), 155–166.
Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question, and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121–129.
Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. California State Department of Education.
Serpa, M. B. (2002). Guidelines for nondiscriminatory assessment of English learners. Lesley University.
Serpa, M. B. (2011). An imperative for change: Bridging special and language learning education to ensure FAPE in LRE for ELLs with disabilities in Massachusetts. UMass Boston, Gastón Institute.
Thomas, W. P., & Collier, V. (2004–2017). Research on long-term academic achievement of minority and ELL students in dual language programs. George Mason University.
Uriarte, M. (2009). Improving education for English learners: Research-based recommendations. Center for Collaborative Education.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2006). Final regulations to implement Part B of the IDEA.
AMERICAN ENGLISH NORM-REFERENCED STANDARDIZED TESTS
Administered to ELs Not Yet Proficient in English (WIDA Levels 1–5)
DO NOT USE
Do not use or report standardized scores with ELs who are not yet proficient in English.
Standard scores, percentile ranks, NCEs, and composite indexes should not be reported until the student reaches:
WIDA ACCESS Levels 5–6, or
Has received at least 5 years (≈50 months) of consistent English L2 instruction, based on research on bilingual development and CALP acquisition (Cummins, 1979, 1981; Thomas & Collier, 2004; Uriarte, 2009) or
Has reached the proficiency stage of second language acquisition
Do not use age/grade equivalents.
These metrics are psychometrically invalid for all students, including native English speakers (Bracken, 1988).
See Pearson technical guidelines:
https://www.pearsonassessments.com/pai/ca/RelatedInfo/InterpretationAgeGradeEquivalents.htm
Do not report numerical scores and then declare them invalid.
If a score is invalid, it must not appear in the report (Serpa, 2002, 2011).
Do not use NRT or CRT tests that fail to meet minimum technical adequacy
Tests must meet federal requirements for validity, reliability, and linguistic appropriateness (IDEA 2004; 34 CFR §300.304).
A test normed for monolingual English speakers is not valid for ELs (WIDA 1–5).
“Evaluation of the assessment data collected must consider the four additional factors: cultural, linguistic, legal, and research”
USE INSTEAD
Use raw scores only as qualitative baseline data.
Describe what the student can do, not what they "lack." Report observations, strategies, and error patterns—not standardized metrics.
Use only tests designed and validated specifically for ELs
Examples include: WIDA ACCESS, & LAS Links
IDEA Proficiency Test,
Other validated second-language proficiency measures.
Use validated tests in the student’s home language (when they are available)
A test must be developed, normed, and validated in the language, not merely translated. Clinical judgment must be:
Linguistically informed
Culturally responsive
Grounded in research appropriate for ELs
Use authentic, curriculum-based, and standards-based assessments
equitable Observation-based assessment (eOBA+)
Stages of L2 development
Stages of Spelling
Stages of Reading
Stages of Writing
Classroom work samples
Cloze Tests (teacher-made on the materials taught)
Use a re-Interpretation/evaluation of all assessment data based on the four additional factors
IF YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ADMINISTER USE NORM-REFERENCED TESTS
Norm-referenced tests developed for English as a first language are not valid for ELs who are not yet proficient in English as a second language (WIDA levels 1–5).
If administration is mandated, the following safeguards are required.
DO NOT
Do not use unqualified interpreters.
Interpreters must be professionally trained in:
The student's language and culture
Special education evaluation procedures
Test security and standardization protocols
Do not use “on-the-spot" translations.
Unstandardized oral translations invalidate:
Test Norms
Reliability
Content & construct validity
Do not report standardized scores from translated or invalid tests.
If norms are representative of EL populations or if language adaptation is not validated, the score is invalid and must not be reported.
DO
Address test validity explicitly in your report.
State “The ________test has not been validated in the _____language or English as a second language, the norming group is inappropriate. The assessment results are organized by assessment questions and reported qualitatively. Invalid scores are not included because they are deemed inappropriate.
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE
Oral language, spelling, and reading tests ARE NOT directly translatable.
New, fully validated versions must be recreated in the target language to meet federal validity requirements.