FAQ: Can I translate the instructions from English to Spanish (or Spanish to English) and accept responses in either language while assessing a student's English skills?
- Doris.M.Cardenas
Answer:
Circle Progress Monitoring, TX-KEA, TPRI, and Tejas LEE were designed to be administered in English or Spanish. Each assessment should be delivered using the corresponding language prompted in the evaluation.
The assessments are not validated for bilingual responses. Cut points are generated for either English assessment with English response or Spanish assessment with Spanish response. The student must respond to the language selected for the measure to make the cut points meaningful and the results valid and reliable.
Keep in mind that CIRCLE Progress Monitoring or TX-KEA lets you assess any sub-measure in the other language; that means that Rapid Vocabulary can be assessed in both English and Spanish for any child. We recommend waiting a few days between administrations to minimize overexposure to the same items. These results may give you some information about what items the child knows that only need the translated label for the other language. Please consult with your school or district administrators; this is just a suggestion.
You may provide additional instructions to the student that may reduce the incidence of responding in the opposite language. The teacher will say: “I want you to name these pictures in English” or “Quiero que nombres estos dibujos en español.” If the child responds in the opposite language, the teacher can say: “In English, please” or “En español, por favor.”
We advise you to refrain from attempting to translate the prompts or instructions to students. This is because translating the assessment prompts may invalidate the data collected and compromise the fidelity of the tool. We recommend using the tool as designed and administering it in English or Spanish since it is not a bilingual assessment.
Please consult with your school or district administrators, as any accommodations for the student are a local-level decision.