Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges From Language Proficiency to Academic Achievement

"With all the offerings that Margo Gottlieb provides in this book, she makes us yearn to not only cross the bridge of assessment, but also to feel confident when we get to the other side."
-From the Foreword by Else Hamayan
Illinois Resource Center

"This book is long overdue! Appropriate assessment and placement of ELLs is the most basic of all instructional processes. Without this, we cannot be sure we can measure student progress or address individual instructional needs."
-Margarita Calderón, Research Scientist
Center for Data-Driven Reform, Johns Hopkins University

"Here, finally, we have a text that empowers teachers by giving them practical strategies for harnessing assessments of language and content in ways that benefit their teaching and their students′ learning."
-Timothy Boals, WIDA Consortium Director, Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction

"Assessing English Language Learners includes a multitude of evaluation instruments that readers can use as they assess their students. Margo Gottlieb helps teachers adjust assessment to different language proficiency levels and then evaluate language proficiency and content learning appropriately."
-David E. Freeman, Yvonne S. Freeman, Professors, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas, Brownsville

Discover how to bridge the gap between equitably assessing linguistic and academic performance!

Student assessment is the cornerstone of standards-based education. For the growing population of English Language Learners, however, measuring their acquisition and learning is a multifaceted process. This well-documented text examines the unique needs of English Language Learners and describes strategies for implementing instructional assessment of language and content.

With both depth and breadth, this practical resource covers how to equitably and comprehensively assess the language proficiency and academic achievement of English Language Learners. Both practicing and aspiring educators will benefit from

• Rubrics, charts, checklists, surveys, and other ready-to-use tools
• Professional development activities
• An integrated approach to teaching standards, language, and content
• Guidance on how best to address standardized testing and grading

Use this timely text to advance the academic language proficiency of English Language Learners through enhanced teaching and assessment techniques. 

Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., has been a bilingual teacher, coordinator, facilitator, consultant, and mentor across K-20 settings. Having worked with universities, organizations, governments, states, school districts, networks, and schools, Margo has co-constructed linguistic and culturally sustainable curriculum and reconceptualized classroom assessment, policy, and practice. As co-founder and lead developer of WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003, Margo has helped design and contributed to all the editions of WIDA’s English and Spanish language development standards frameworks and their derivative products. She has been appointed to national and state advisory boards, served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, and was honored by the TESOL International Association in 2016 for her significant contribution to the field. An avid traveler, Margo has enjoyed keynoting and presenting across the United States, territories, and 25 countries. Having authored, co-authored, or co-edited over 100 publications, including 22 books, Margo′s 3rd edition of Assessing Multilingual Learners: Bridges to Empowerment (2024) and Collaborative Assessment for Multilingual Learners and Teachers: Pathways to Partnerships (with A. Honigsfeld, 2025) are the latest additions to her Corwin compendium.

In 2025, Margo was inducted into the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame.