I really don't appreciate the assessment test my students take each term.  It is purely a reading test.  The students will read charts, graphs, or small texts, and answer multiple choice questions about the information.  It really isn't fair that my students are only tested on reading, but the past two terms, I've really made a concerted effort with my students to practice all four skills of language (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).  Rather than dismissing the test as the necessary evil, I did my best to teach them that they do have to take the test, but it doesn't test everything, and still provide them for opportunities to see their growth through other assessments as well.

When my class got their results, I had two students improve two full levels, one student improve one level, and one student was within one point of a full level gain as well! The three who stayed the same in their testing scores are my three learners who have been in the USA for 20-30 years (and one had just come back from 5 weeks in Korea).  These students would be considered fossilized learners, and it is very challenging to change patterns that have been set for such a long time.

I know these tests don't show everything but still, it was so encouraging for the students!  My administrator was impressed by the fact that all seven students on my roster were present to take the test, not to mention the results.

The best outcome was that even Hsiao Lien, who stayed the same on her test score, has improved in her spoken language.  We have been working on pronunciation and verbs a lot!  She often uses the simple present when she should be using the past, and I recently found out that Mandarin doesn't have verb tenses! Now it makes sense why she doesn't remember to use a different tense! However, if I ask her, she can produce the correct tense.  I'm so proud of each of my students.  They try so hard!  And they are doing well! There is still a lot of room for improvement, but so much of that is simply because they need more opportunities to use English in conversations with fluent English speakers.

But for now, teacher and students alike are ready for a relaxing Christmas break!