Language Assessment System (LAS) Links TM Census Test

1. Language Assessment System (LAS) LinksTMCensus Test

2. About LAS LinksTM CensusTest • Used to determine yearly progress of an English language learner’s (ELLs) listening, speaking, reading and writing skills • Based on a language acquisition continuum aligned with the MSDE Standards for ELLs • Administered in the Spring to all students enrolled in the ESOL program

3. About LAS LinksTM Census Test • Oral production of single words and single sentences • Listening Comprehension of short directions, classroom situations and longer narrative passages • Reading single words and comprehension of short passages • Using writing conventions and writing simple and complex sentences to describe one or a series of pictures. • Writing in response to a prompt Evaluates:

4. Proficiency Levels for Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing Low Beginning High Beginning Low Intermediate High Intermediate Advanced

5. Test Administration Summary

6. Grade Bands •  K-1 Early Elementary    • 2-3 Elementary    • 4-5 Middle Grades    • 6-8 Middle/High School    • 9-12High School

7. Listening LAS Links Listening covers classroom spoken English and listening comprehension. It evaluates a student’s abilities to process language at a level that integrates skills and knowledge. Typical activities: • Students listen to short passages and answer questions. • Students hear instructions similar to those provided by a teacher in a classroom. • Students hear a passage with academic content read by either the test administrator or played from the audio CD. Students are then asked four questions about the passage.

8. Speaking LAS Links Speaking items assess the building blocks of oral language from vocabulary, to social language, to more sophisticated verbal expressions with appropriate grammar. Typical activities: • Students are presented color pictures of objects and respond with short answers. • Students respond in sentences to questions about pictures depicting an activity or action. • Students describe how to do something or explain why something happens. • Students view a series of four pictures and explain what is happening.

9. Reading Reading items assess word analysis as the basis for phonemic awareness and word recognition, fluency and vocabulary development. At higher levels, students use literary and informative texts to demonstrate their level proficiency. Typical activities: • Students read and answer questions in a variety of formats that address four word analysis subskills: identifying rhyming words, applying letter-sound relationships to read English words, applying letter-sound relationships to read English phonemes, and applying knowledge of morphemes and syntax to word meaning. • Students also classify words and demonstrate vocabulary. • In Grades K-1, students choose written words read by the test administrator and match pictured objects to their written descriptions. • Students are asked to demonstrate reading comprehension, identify literary features, and apply learning strategies to interpretation.

10. Writing Writing items assess receptive and productive skills. Students are asked to identify appropriate grammar, capitalization and punctuation, and standard sentence structure. Then they produce sentences in a paragraph that is evaluated for content, language usage, and fluency. Typical activities: • Students in Grades K-12 are asked to choose between two alternatives and write two sentences about their choice. • Students in Grades 2-12 are asked to write in detail about a prompt.

11. Conclusion This presentation is meant to increase your awareness of the LAS Links Assessment and its contents. It is by no means an exhaustive review of the assessment. For more information, you should visit the CTB McGraw-Hill website or speak to an ESOL teacher who has administered the assessment.