TOAST.most schools in the US really drop the ball when it comes to kids that aren't proficient in English, it's a real shame.
It's sad too because these kids are motivated with family support and really want to learn English; but throwing a standardized test written for native English speakers at them isn't going to show me anything aside from the fact that they can't yet access the test they were given. These students' teachers next year will have no idea what their background knowledge is in their native language, which means wasted time teaching kids who already know the alphabet and phonics in L1. The native language test would tell you if a kid knows how to structure an essay, write in different genres of academic writing, etc. but we don't use it. I picked up "measure twice, cut once" when I worked in the trades which applies to why you'd want to test a student in both languages. I can't cut a service plan and goals for the school year for a student if I only have half the picture of their abilities.
It gets into civil rights violations as well where these tests are used for determining special education services, so a kid can be placed in separate SPED classrooms without a learning disability and stall their English language development for years because SPED targets different growth areas than language acquisition.
It's a shitty system that violates kids rights every day and festers because school districts know most migrant parents do not have the financial or legal resources to file lawsuits against the districts screwing their kids over, or they have a fear of speaking out because it might hurt their application for citizenship. It is a shame too because meeting with these parents it's clear they are heavily involved in their kids' lives, want to be active in the school community, have dreams of their kids going onto college or into the trades and out of poverty. Administration just doesn't care.
