Andrea Whittaker. Ph.D.
Stanford University
September 2011
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Defining TPAC constructs
• Examples in Practice
• Rubric Descriptors
• Other resources
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity
2011

Embedded Signature Assessments
Child
Case
Studies
Analyses of
Student
Learning
Curriculum/
Teaching
Analyses
TPAC Capstone
Assessment
Integration of:
 Planning
 Instruction
 Assessment
 Analysis of
Teaching with attention to
Academic Language
Observation/Supervisory Evaluation &
Feedback
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

Planning Instruction Assessment
• Instructional and social context
• Lesson plans
• Handouts, overheads, student work
• Planning
Commentary
• Video Clips
• Instruction
Commentary
• Analysis of Whole
Class Assessment
• Analysis of learning and Feedback to two students
• Instructional next steps
• Assessment
Commentary
Daily Reflection Notes
Analysis of Teaching Effectiveness Commentary
Evidence of Academic Language Development
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

• Academic language is different from everyday language. Some students are not exposed to this language outside of school.
• Much of academic language is discipline-specific and deepens subject matter THINKING.
• Unless we make academic language explicit for learning, some students will be excluded from classroom discourse and future opportunities that depend on having acquired this language.
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Academic language is the oral and written language used in school necessary for learning content.
• This includes the “language of the discipline”
( vocabulary and forms/functions of language associated with learning outcomes) and the
“instructional language” used to engage students’ in learning content.
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Technical vocabulary: triangle, metaphor, metabolize
• Words whose technical meaning is different than everyday language: “balance” in chemistry,
“plane” in mathematics, “ruler” in history/social science, “force” in science
• Connector words: and, but, because, therefore, however
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Brainstorm discipline specific vocabulary
• Technical
• Multiple meaning
• Connector…
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

The FUNCTIONS of Academic Language are to clearly and explicitly define, classify, analyze, explain, argue, interpret and evaluate ideas for distant audiences.
Every language function has FORMS or structures that are common and often discipline specific (text, sentence or graphic/symbolic)
Developing students’ FLUENCY in academic language forms and functions provides access to the
“language of school” and academic success
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

Brainstorm discipline specific
FUNCTIONS – THINK VERBS!
Brainstorm discipline specific
FORMS or structures -- oral, written/text, graphic or symbolic
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Brainstorm Instructional Language
• Language teachers use to direct student engagement in learning (task directions, routines, questions,…) and language that students need to participate with each other in a learning activity (questions, …)
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

Academic Language
Competencies Measured
• Understanding students’ language development and identifying language demands
• Supporting language demands (vocabulary, form and function) to deepen content learning
• Identifying evidence that students understand and use targeted academic language in ways that support content learning and language development.
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

• Analyze video for academic language:
• Vocabulary
• Function/Form
• Instructional Language http://www.learner.org/resources/series33.html
13

Language demand
Form/Function
Scaffolds
Provided
Student
Understanding and Use?
Vocabulary
Instructional
Language
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

• Jeff Zwiers
• Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for
Content Classrooms, Grades 5-12
• SIOP
• Academic Language webinars archived on the
TPAC Ning
• Melanie Hundley - Tennessee
• Ann Lippincott and Laura Hill Bonet
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity
2011

• Unless we make academic language explicit for learning, some students will be excluded from classroom discourse and future opportunities that depend on having acquired this language.
• Language of the Discipline
• Three “F” Words
• Vocabulary
• Instructional Language
Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity