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EP221 — Formative Assessment for ELL Students: How to Know If They Are Actually Getting It
Episode 22111th September 2026 • Equipping ELLs • Beth Vaucher, ELL, ESL Teachers
00:00:00 00:19:06

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A few weeks into the school year most ELL teachers hit the same moment. A student is participating, completing tasks, sitting through the lesson — and you genuinely do not know if anything is landing. Today's episode gives you a clear, practical framework for finding out — and five strategies that take five minutes or less.

In this episode you will learn:

  • The two opposite assessment mistakes ELL teachers make — and why both lead to the same problem
  • The two-lens framework: why content understanding and language production must be assessed separately
  • Why the same student needs completely different instruction depending on which lens reveals the gap
  • Five formative assessment strategies that work for every language level
  • How to turn partner talk into real-time data collection at zero extra cost
  • The mid-lesson one-sentence writing check that changes what you do in the next five minutes — not next week
  • How to separate language ability from content understanding with one simple adjustment

Free resource:

Language Domain Rubrics — clear observable indicators for what language development looks like at every proficiency level across all four domains — Click here and grab your free copy today!

Is your school looking for ELL professional development and support?

Learn about our school partnerships program at equippingells.com/school-partnerships

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