With CASAS being used as a tool in almost every US state as a way to evaluate ESL learners, the new CASAS STEPS tests have become a major topic for discussion in adult education. An analysis of the standards reflected in the STEPS reading tests allow us to distill the information down to vocabulary development and seven skills reflected in the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). In the tests and ELPS, vocabulary progression goes from basic words to academic vocabulary to words with multiple meanings.
Beyond the solid vocabulary development expected now in all ESL classrooms are seven critical skills that students should be exposed to and practice in the classroom. For some, these skills are already likely to be part of the classroom experience, whereas in other classrooms, these skills might be new to lesson planning. In any case, it is essential to emphasize these skills now to ensure students progress successfully and perform well on the CASAS STEPS tests. The chart that follows breaks down the skills and related levels where they are expected to be introduced according to CASAS.
In this chart, besides the obvious vocabulary development, there are very few “new” concepts that good instruction doesn’t already include. So, programs that wish to improve students’ CASAS scores simply need to make sure their teachers are focusing on these seven concepts represented in red. Some suggestions for challenging students with these ideas:
- Incorporate concepts of both reading and listening in each lesson that includes these skills. There is no need to go outside the class lesson to teach these skills—you do not need “special CASAS preparation lessons”. Instead, teach these skills all the time.
- Point out to students the skills they are learning each time you incorporate one of them, and that it is a CASAS skill, so they gain confidence that they are always preparing for CASAS.
- Try to teach many of the concepts together in one lesson with one reading or listening activity from your book. Stand Out, Fourth Edition already incorporates these, often making suggestions in the student book itself and in the Stand Out Lesson Planner.
- Provide opportunities in class, homework, and assessments to experience the CASAS format as it is found in STEPS. This is particularly important for the listening. The format of the STEPS listening can be very challenging for students who have little or no experience with it.
- Don’t wait to teach the concepts at the indicated level. For example, “inference” is initiated in high beginning, but students can do it earlier. Prediction activities are an example where students have to take information and come to conclusions.
- Start thinking of the incorporation of these skills as best practices. Never think of them as an add-on or one more thing you are asked to do, but rather as essential to good teaching and part of your core methodological approach to instruction.
Another way to look at these concepts is by what kind of questions you might ask students or that students might ask each other. Here is a quick breakdown:
Identify Details – What, Where, When, How, Why
Ask these questions after students have listened to or read a dialog, story, paragraph, form, graph, etc. In the case of listening, do this without students seeing or reading the text first. Ask them to listen to and answer questions, then read and check their answers. If you want to emphasize listening and are using a dialog, leave the last phrase or response off and ask them to try to complete it from three options you present.
Identify Main Idea – What?
Students struggle with distinguishing between the main idea and detail. After listening to or reading a text that doesn’t have a title, ask them what they think the title might be. At low levels, give them three choices, two that are details and one that is the main idea. This reflects the test and also helps students learn what the main idea is. For listening, do the same for a summary. Note that a summary and the main idea are nearly the same thing in CASAS STEPS. If students can do one, they likely can do the other.
Identify Author Purpose – Why?
With every listening or reading text, ask students why they think the author wrote it. When it applies, ask them if they agree with the author’s perspective or have any ideas to add.
Compare Texts – How?
Ask students to compare things within the text. This could be done with a “T chart”, a Venn diagram, or another graphic organizer. If there are no obvious comparisons in the text, have them compare things in the text with things outside of the text. In the upper levels, have students compare the style of writing in two different texts as well as comparing the content.
Identify Point of View – Who?
Ask who is speaking. As students increase in language proficiency, help students identify the different points of view that are possible and how they affect the message.
Make Inferences – What do you think? Why?
With inference, students develop ideas on evidence that is not complete. At the lowest levels, this might be a prediction activity or in the case of a story or dialog, a “what comes next” activity. At higher levels, students read and ask other students for opinions based on what they have read.
Cite Evidence – Where?
In the case of all the other skills above, ask students to find where in the text they discovered the answer or evidence that supports their conclusion.
If you integrate these activities every day in class, students will not see them as foreign or merely to prepare for a test and hopefully instructors will not see them as something they have to do, but as part of their regular routine that can be a great benefit to their students.
The following ‘Reading Challenge’ activity from Stand Out Level 2, like most in the series, lends itself to many of these concepts. Several are already identified in the instruction lines.
In conclusion, successfully navigating CASAS STEPS and preparing students for the assessment should be done through effective instruction. This means every lesson should incorporate many and sometimes all seven of the concepts reflected in CASAS STEPS. Students will therefore not only be prepared for CASAS, but also excel in their language development.
Ready to prepare your students for success on CASAS STEPS? Watch Rob Jenkins’s webinar for more tips to teach the skills needed for the test!
