Secondary ELL Assessment & Intervention Builder
Build WIDA-aligned assessments and interventions for secondary ELL students
What You Can Do
You can create valid, accessible assessments that measure English language proficiency without conflating it with content knowledge. The skill generates scaffolded assessment items at multiple proficiency levels, designs differentiated intervention activities matched to specific language gaps (grammar structures, academic vocabulary, discourse patterns), and produces progress-monitoring protocols that track language development trajectories across semesters. Each tool aligns to WIDA Can-Do Descriptors or ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, ensuring your assessments meet standards compliance.
Features
creates test items at Entering, Developing, Expanding, and Bridging proficiency levels with sentence stems and reduced linguistic complexity
designs targeted activities that address specific morphosyntactic gaps (articles, verb tenses, prepositions) matched to student proficiency trajectories
generates performance tasks, oral protocols, and non-written demonstrations of knowledge for students who struggle with written language
maps all assessments and interventions to Can-Do Descriptors or Proficiency Guidelines with explicit standard codes
provides discipline-specific language supports organized by proficiency level for content-area tasks
creates formative check templates with frequency schedules and data collection sheets to track language growth over time
builds parallel versions of content assessments with varying linguistic complexity so all students access the same content standard
generates monitoring tools that flag when students need instructional adjustments or tier 2/3 intervention escalation
Example Output
Example 1: Scaffolded Assessment Item (Science Unit on Photosynthesis)
Entering Level: "Label the parts of the plant. Use words from the box: roots, leaves, stem"
Developing Level: "Explain what each plant part does. Use: The _____ helps the plant by _____"
Expanding Level: "Compare how roots and leaves help plants survive. Use: Roots help plants ____ while leaves help plants ____"
Bridging Level: "Analyze the relationship between photosynthesis and plant growth. Explain how sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide work together."
Example 2: Intervention Sequence for Past Tense Morphology
✓ Activity 1 (Developing): Sentence matching—connect regular past tense verbs (-ed) to pictures with sentence frames: "The student _____ (studied) yesterday."
✓ Activity 2 (Expanding): Irregular past tense cards—memory game pairing present/past forms (go/went, eat/ate) with sentence context
✓ Activity 3 (Bridging): Narrative writing with editing checklist for past tense consistency in controlled 3-sentence paragraphs
Example 3: Progress Monitoring Data Sheet Track: Oral production of complex sentences | Frequency: Biweekly | Target: 60% accuracy by end of term | Data collection method: Audio recording + transcript analysis for T-unit complexity
What's Included
- SKILL.md instruction file with prompting templates for assessments, interventions, and protocols:
- Scaffolded Assessment Item Generator: template for creating 4-level assessment items with linguistic complexity markers
- Proficiency-Level Intervention Sequencer: framework for designing 3-4 activity progressions targeting specific language objectives
- WIDA/ACTFL Alignment Checklist: standards-matching tool with Can-Do Descriptor codes and proficiency level descriptors
- Progress Monitoring Protocol Template: formative data collection sheet with frequency recommendations and decision rules for intervention escalation
Who It's For
- Secondary ESL/ELL teachers designing unit assessments and intervention plans
- Content teachers in multilingual classrooms needing to scaffold language demands
- English teachers supporting newcomer and developing English learners
- ESL specialists conducting proficiency assessments or designing pull-out interventions
- School-based language coaches and instructional coaches supporting ELL program implementation
Best For
- Creating unit assessments that measure both content and language standards simultaneously
- Designing differentiated interventions targeting specific morphosyntactic or discourse gaps
- Building progress-monitoring systems that track language development trajectories
- Generating sentence stems and academic language supports for content tasks
- Developing alternative assessment formats for students who struggle with written demonstrations of knowledge
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