From our journals: Statewide assessments and translanguaging to grow multilingual learners
By: Norman P. Gibbs, Margarita Pivovarova and David C. Berliner, Arizona State University
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, February 2023
Statewide assessments in reading and math are required every year under the Every Student Succeeds Act, at the expense of billions of taxpayer dollars. Analyzing 10 years of school-level results from public schools in two states (Nebraska and Texas) the researchers found that year-to-year correlations of schools’ test scores were exceptionally high, indicating that little new information is derived from annual testing. Schools experiencing the largest demographic changes had significantly lower year-to-year correlations, highlighting the sensitivity of these scores to changes in underlying student demographics. The researchers argue that the frequency of these tests may be reduced, yielding substantial savings of time and money and no loss of useful information.
Review of Rooted in strength: Using translanguaging to grow multilingual readers and writers
By: Emily Johns-O’Leary, University of Colorado Boulder
Published in: Education Review, Feb. 1, 2023
Johns-O’Leary says Espinosa and Ascenzi-Moreno’s book provides a daily resource for teachers, as well as a deep reimagining of how the literacy education of emergent bilinguals could celebrate and build on their strengths. Pre-service and in-service teachers from Pre-K–Grade 5 will find the book applicable and helpful, as will teacher educators who prepare candidates to teach literacy in culturally and linguistically sustaining ways. The book answers important questions of how translanguaging can move from the abstract to the concrete, and from oral language to literacy. It also invites the reader to think critically about new questions: to ask why such a shift could be an essential part of equitable education, and what that shift would truly mean for literacy instruction and beyond.
Current Issues in Education will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on March 3. The virtual event will feature a panel of ASU faculty and students. View the agenda and learn more.
About our journals
MLFTC sponsors three innovative, open-access journals on education scholarship. EPAA is a peer-reviewed, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and development analysts concerned with education policies. Education Review publishes reviews of books on education topics and Acquired Wisdom essays by esteemed educational researchers, and CIE is a peer-reviewed journal led by MLFTC graduate students.
Contact Stephanie McBride-Schreiner to learn more about our journals.