ABSTRACT

This paper is concerned with fair and valid testing. It reports on a long-term project aimed at creating visual accessibility resources in mathematics computer-administered test items in a large-scale assessment system. We discuss our experience designing and developing pop-up illustration glossaries (IGs) for second language learners (SLLs) – students who are not native users of the predominant language in the society in which they live, are typically schooled in that predominant language, and face the challenge of learning content and demonstrating knowledge in a language that is not their first language. An IG is a visual representation of a word/term identified as likely to be linguistically challenging to a substantial proportion of SLL test takers and which appears on the screen when the test taker clicks on that word/term. Because they interact with the user, IGs are more sensitive than other accessibility resources to students’ individual needs – a characteristic that addresses the linguistic heterogeneity of SLL populations. We discuss the extent to which IGs contribute to ensuring valid, fair assessment for SLL students, and the implications of the lessons learned for improving assessment systems.

摘要

本文涉及公平有效的测试。它报告了一个长期项目，该项目旨在在大型评估系统中的计算机管理的数学测试项目中创建视觉可访问性资源。我们讨论了为第二语言学习者（SLL）设计和开发弹出式插图词汇表（IG）的经验-非本地语言使用者是他们所生活的社会的母语使用者，他们通常接受该主要语言的教育，并且面对学习内容和以非母语的语言展示知识的挑战。IG是视觉上表示一个单词/术语的视觉表示，该单词/术语被认为可能对很大一部分SLL考生进行语言挑战，并且在考生单击该单词/术语时出现在屏幕上。因为IG与用户互动，所以它比其他可访问性资源更敏感于学生的个人需求-这是解决SLL人群语言异质性的一个特征。我们讨论了IG可以在多大程度上确保SLL学生获得有效，公平的评估，以及汲取的教训对改进评估系统的影响。