Selected Work

The following are selected works by Dr. Sato and her colleagues:

Standards-based K-12 English language proficiency assessments in the U.S.A.: Current policies and practice

Chapter Description: This chapter provides an overview of the history and characteristics of K-12, large-scale, standards-based English language proficiency (ELP) assessments in the United States. The chapter begins with a brief review of significant court cases and legislation that have influenced ELP assessment in the United States. The authors then describe the characteristics of current K-12, large-scale, standards-based ELP assessments. Specifically, the authors explore the content of current ELP assessments, the entities that create the assessments, and the ways in which the assessments are administered. This chapter is intended to provide key contextual information, improve understanding on how K-12 ELP assessments have evolved in the United States, and identify areas in which further research and improvement in K-12 ELP assessment are needed.

Book Description: Assessing English Language Proficiency in U.S. K–12 Schools offers comprehensive background information about the generation of standards-based, English language proficiency (ELP) assessments used in U.S. K–12 school settings. The chapters in this book address a variety of key issues involved in the development and use of those assessments: defining an ELP construct driven by new academic content and ELP standards, using technology for K–12 ELP assessments, addressing the needs of various English learner (EL) students taking the assessments, connecting assessment with teaching and learning, and substantiating validity claims. Each chapter also contains suggestions for future research that will contribute to the next generation of K–12 ELP assessments and improve policies and practices in the use of the assessments. This book is intended to be a useful resource for researchers, graduate students, test developers, practitioners, and policymakers who are interested in learning more about large-scale, standards-based ELP assessments for K–12 EL students. (https://www.routledge.com/Assessing-English-Language-Proficiency-in-US-K12-Schools/Wolf/p/book/9781138589407)

Citation: Sato, E. & Thompson, K. (2020).  Standards-based K-12 English language proficiency assessments in the U.S.A.: Current policies and practice. In M. Wolf (Ed.) Assessing English language proficiency in K-12 U.S. schools. Routledge.

---

English Language Proficiency Standards for English Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

Publication URL: http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Test-Fairness-in-the-New-Generation-of-Large-Scale-Assessment

---

Culture in Fair Assessment Practices

In H. Jiao & R.W. Lissitz (Eds.) Test fairness in the new generation of large-scale assessments. Maryland Assessment Research Center Conference. College Park, MD.

Publication URL: http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Test-Fairness-in-the-New-Generation-of-Large-Scale-Assessment

Chapter Abstract: Given the diversity of our student population, and because test scores can limit students’ subsequent opportunities, consideration of the degree to which culture influences perceptions, logic, and reasoning, as well as student engagement with and response to information and experiences is critical. Such consideration of culture needs to extend beyond our current assessment practices and can affect how we define and measure certain constructs, and our understanding of student assessment performance. This chapter presents conceptual work that draws from a number of disciplines including, linguistics, intercultural communication, psychology, education, and measurement. It examines culture in fair assessment practices. More specifically, it describes cultural dimensions that affect our meaning-making, discusses cultural sensitivity, and considers implications of possible construct-relevant factors that are culture-based. General principles and a heuristic for culturally-sensitive assessment design and development are presented that extend our current treatment of culture in assessment, have potential to guide principled variation in task design, contextualization, and analysis, and can enhance our fair assessment practices.

Citation: Sato, E. (2017). Culture in fair assessment practices. In H. Jiao & R.W. Lissitz (Eds.) Test fairness in the new generation of large-scale assessments. Maryland Assessment Research Center Conference. College Park, MD.

---

Skills for a Multilingual, Global Community

Publication URL: https://www.languagemagazine.com/2016/05/skills-for-a-multilingual-global-learning-community/

This article discusses “academic literacies” and offers strategies for educators to help multilingual learners develop academic literacies and succeed across multiple academic disciplines and contexts.

Citation: Sato, E. (2015). Skills for a multilingual, global community. Language Magazine, 15(3), 34-44.

---

Multilingual Learners and Academic Literacies: Sociocultural Contexts of Literacy Development in Adolescents

Publication URL: https://www.routledge.com/Multilingual-Learners-and-Academic-Literacies-Sociocultural-Contexts-of/Molle-Sato-Boals-Hedgspeth/p/book/9781138846487

Book Description: Shifting the discourse from a focus on academic language to the more dynamic but less researched construct of academic literacies, this volume addresses three key questions:

-What constitutes academic literacy?

-What does academic literacy development in adolescent multilingual students look like and how can this development be assessed?

-What classroom contexts foster the development of academic literacies in multilingual adolescents?

Chapter Title (Sato): Establishing a Foundation for Academic Literacies: The Role of Standards

Chapter Description: This chapter presents a framework and critical considerations for an approach to the development of content standards that can serve as a foundation for supporting the learning of academic literacies, as well as be relevant to supporting students’ learning of the rigorous next generation standards we are implementing in our schools to prepare them for college and careers. As addressed in this chapter, academic literacies refers generally to knowledge and skills needed to read and write, as well as competencies and understandings of language, its contexts, and its uses (Heritage, this volume; Langer, 2002; Molle, this volume). The intent of this chapter is to provide a means for organizing existing and emerging research and theory relevant to academic literacies, analyzing the relationships between/among the information available to us, and systematically articulating and validating academic literacies in terms of the domain, its related constructs, knowledge, and skills, and its manifestation in content standards that can have profound implications for curriculum and instruction, assessment, and student learning outcomes relevant to our multicultural and multinational learning and work environments.

Citation: Sato, E. (2015). Establishing a foundation for academic literacy: The role of standards. In D. Molle, E. Sato, T. Boals, & C.A. Hedgspeth (Eds.), Multilingual learners and academic literacies: Sociocultural contexts of literacy development in adolescents (pp. 277-290). New York: Routledge.

---

Focusing Formative Assessment on the Needs of English Language Learners

---

Accommodations for English Language Learner Students: The Effect of Linguistic Modification of Math Test Item Sets

Publication URL: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/west/pdf/REL_20094079.pdf

This study examined the effect of linguistic modification on middle school students’ ability to show what they know and can do on math assessments. Findings show that simplifying the language–or linguistic modification–on standardized math test items made it easier for English Language learners to focus on and grasp math concepts, and thus was a more accurate assessment of their math skills. The results contribute to the body of knowledge informing assessment practices and accommodations appropriate for English language learner students. The study examined students’ performance on two sets of math items–both the originally worded items and those that had been modified. Researchers analyzed results from three subgroups of students–English learners (EL), non-English language arts proficient (NEP), and English language arts proficient (EP) students. Key results include: (1) Linguistically modifying the language of mathematics test items did not change the math knowledge being assessed; (2) The effect of linguistic modification on students’ math performance varied between the three student subgroups. The results also varied depending on how scores were calculated for each student; and (3) For each of the four scoring approaches analyzed, the effect of linguistic modification was greatest for EL students, followed by NEP and EP students.

See also the Institute of Education Sciences’ What Works Clearinghouse review of this study: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/SingleStudyReviews/wwc_linguisticmod_061212.pdf

Citation: Sato, E., Rabinowitz, S., Gallagher, C. Huang, C.-W. (2010). Accommodations for English language learner students: the effect of linguistic modification of math test item sets. (NCEE 2009-4079). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

---

Technology Enabled and Universally Designed Assessment: Considering Access in Measuring the Achievement of Students with Disabilities–A Foundation for Research

Publication URL: https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jtla/article/download/1605/1453

This paper represents one outcome from the Invitational Research Symposium on Technology-Enabled and Universally Designed Assessments, which examined technology-enabled assessments (TEA) and universal design (UD) as they relate to students with disabilities (SWD). It was developed to stimulate research into TEAs designed to make tests appropriate for the full range of the student population through enhanced accessibility. Four themes are explored: (a) a construct-centered approach to developing accessible assessments; (b) how technology and UD can provide access to targeted knowledge, skills, and abilities by embedding access and interactive features directly into systems that deliver TEAs; (c) the possibility of incorporating scaffolding directly into innovative assessment items; and (d) the importance of investigating the validity of inferences from TEAs that incorporate accessibility features designed to maximize validity.  The article conveys the issues arising through the symposium and offers insights to researchers who conduct studies on the design, development, and validation of technology-enabled and universally designed assessments that include SWD.  The paper proposes a focused research agenda and makes it clear that a principled program of research is needed to properly develop and use technology-enabled and universally designed educational assessments that encourage the inclusion of SWD. As research progresses, TEAs need to improve how they assess students’ understanding of complex academic content and how they provide equitable access to all students including SWD.

Citation: Almond, P., Winter, P., Cameto, R., Russell, M., Sato, E., Clarke, J., Torres, C., Haertel, G., Dolan, B., Beddow, P., & Lazarus, S. (2010). Technology enabled and universally designed assessment: Considering access in measuring the achievement of students with disabilities—A foundation for research. Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 10 (5).

---

Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments

Publication URL: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED524106.pdf

Publication URL for associated Brief: https://www.wested.org/online_pubs/ASDS-09-02.pdf

The Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments (Framework) was conceived as a critical tool in states’ efforts to ensure that their English learner (EL) students achieve English language proficiency (ELP) and, also, achieve at high levels academically. Building on the best knowledge from relevant research and practice, the Framework provides criteria for high-quality ELP standards and aligned assessments. The Framework includes a variety of worksheets for inventorying evidence of quality and decisions and actions associated with judgments of quality as ELP standards and assessments are developed and implemented. Dr. Edynn Sato, the lead author of the Framework, and Dr. Stanley Rabinowitz, the Framework’s technical advisor, convened and worked with a broad spectrum of experts (educators, administrators, researchers, technical assistance providers, representatives from state departments of education, education companies) to develop and vet this framework. This framework was developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Citation: Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center. (2009). Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments. San Francisco, CA: WestEd.

---

For more information about and examples of Dr. Sato’s work, please contact her directly. Her contact information can be found on the Contacts page of this website.