Sahara Gray

Federal Grant Evaluation: Title VII

[This is a brief excerpt from a grant evaluation written under contract for the Region I Education Service Center in Texas. This section is an analysis of results from a language proficiency test.]

It is clear from the graphs above that a large majority of kindergarten students were at the Beginning level of English language proficiency during both school years evaluated. According to the TELPAS Rater Administration Manual, this level denotes students who struggle to understand simple English conversations covering familiar topics, generally speak using isolated words or short phrases, are just beginning to understand environmental print in English, and cannot express themselves meaningfully with written English.

Although significant numbers of students had reached the Intermediate level in listening (38% and 28% in 2004 and 2005 respectively) and speaking (35% and 36%), only 9% had attained this level in English reading and writing in 2005, as compared with 18% in 2004. The Intermediate level indicates that students can participate in short, general conversations that incorporate low levels of detail using basic vocabulary. Many students in kindergarten who have reached this level of verbal communication do not have the foundation necessary to reach a similar level of written communication. This is a natural consequence of language development patterns. As students reach higher levels of oral proficiency, the groundwork will be laid for comprehension and production of written language.

In 2005, small numbers of students reached the Advanced level in all areas, meaning that they can participate comfortably in English conversations, while no students had reached this level in 2004.