Product QuickFacts

LAS Links Assessment for English Language Learners: Product QuickFacts

Fully integrated to cover reading, writing, speaking, listening and comprehension skills, LAS Links helps you accurately assess the academic and social language skills of English Language Learners. It provides research-based results to support your instructional decisions and measures student progress year-to-year and between grades, and helps schools meet ESEA accountability and reporting requirements.

LAS Links Assessment Subject
Area and Grades

English Language Proficiency
(Grades K–12)

K-12 Common Core Assessment Scoring Options

Hand Scroing
Machine scroing
Online scoring
Local scanning

K-12 LAS Assessment Types

Summative
Diagnostic

Delivery Format

Paper and pencil
Large print
Braille

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LAS Links K–12 Assessments helps educators accurately assess the academic and social language skills of English language learners. The assessments provide detailed information on students' reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

LAS Links K–12 Assessments is part of our comprehensive model for helping language learners at every stage of the learning process.

The LAS Links Continuum of Effective Measurement

Accurately evaluate and report progress of your English Language Learners

Engaging and grade-level appropriate

LAS Links uses realistic illustrations, reading passages set in context, photographs, and culturally relevant test content to engage, challenge, and encourage students throughout the learning process.

LAS Links K–12 Assessments are grade–level appropriate and available in five grade bands:

Primary (K–1)
Early Elementary (2–3)
Elementary (4–5)
Middle School (6–8)
High School (9–12)

Test formats include multiple–choice and performance–based questions to address a wide range of language skills. Theme–based tests cover subjects such as mathematics, science and technology, reading/language arts, and social studies to better evaluate student understanding of both academic and social language.

Easy test administration and scoring

With LAS Links K–12 Assessments, you'll find everything you need to make test administration easy and efficient. To facilitate test administration, use the optional audio CD with test directions. LAS Links uses one common scale for ease of assessment evaluation and comparison across grades and proficiency levels.

CTB also offers a variety of flexible services to help you easily interpret, sort, compare and share test results. Save time by entering test scores directly into our online scoring tool. This online tool automatically computes the scale scores and proficiency levels and provides you with reports you can use to make informed decisions about the progress of each student.

With the LAS Links Report Pack options you can easily use online access to get summary, classroom, and student reports on your LAS Links assessments. You can also quickly link to Instructional Guidance lessons organized by student proficiency level.

Additional Benefits:

Provides reliable English language proficiency results to make crucial instructional decisions
Allows districts to measure student growth year over year and between grades
Measures both social and academic skills for a comprehensive view of language abilities
Accurately and reliably meets the needs of all English language learners

Additional Features:

Measurement of the four NCLB domains—reading, writing, speaking, listening—and comprehension skills
Five grade bands available
Easy–to–use Examiner's Guides
Student Profile Sheets
Two forms available to demonstrate growth between fall and spring administrations
Custom assessment/problem set creation capability
Links to Benchmark Assessment and Instructional Guidance Materials
Offers materials for visually impaired students

Skill Area	Estimated Time	Administration Mode
Speaking	10 Minutes — All Grades	Individual
Listening	15 Minutes — All Grades	Group or Individual
Reading	35 Minutes — Kindergarten	Group or Individual
Writing	35 Minutes — Kindergarten 45 Minutes — Grades 1–12	Group or Individual
Total	95–115 Minutes

Explore sample reports by choosing your audience from the pull-down menu below.

Choose audience:

District

Grade Roster

Skill Strand Report

Group List Report

Student Proficiency Report

LAS Links K–12 Assessments test items measure students' skills in the four learning domains identified in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Sample test items:

Test Item	Grades	Details
Listening: Listen for information [128K PDF File]	2–3, 9–12	Students hear instructions typical of those provided in a classroom by a teacher. Instructions can either be read by the Test Examiner or played from an audio CD or cassette. The Test Examiner then asks students which choice coincides with the instructions they heard. Instructions and answers may be expressed idiomatically.
Listening: Listen and comprehend [140K PDF File]	4–5	Students hear a passage with academic content read either by the Test Examiner or played from the audio CD or cassette. Students are then asked four questions about the passage. Each question has three answer choices to assess comprehension.
Speaking: Speak in words [88K PDF File]	6–8	Students are presented with color pictures of objects and respond with short answers to Test Examiner's questions: "What is this?" or "In what subject do we study it?"
Speaking: Speak in sentences [124K PDF File]	2–3, 6–8	Students respond in sentences to Test Examiner's questions about pictures depicting an activity or action. The Test Examiner asks the students questions related to the picture, such as, "Tell me what is happening in the picture." or "Tell me exactly where Book B is."
Speaking: Make a conversation [92K PDF File]	2–3, 6–8	Students respond to the Test Examiner's questions: "Describe how to do something," "Explain why something happens."
Speaking: Tell a story 160K PDF File]	2–5	Students explain what is happening in a series of four pictures. Stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
Reading: Analyze words [116K PDF File]	2–3, 6–8	Students read and answer questions in a variety of formats addressing four word-analysis sub-skills: identifying rhyming words, applying letter-sound relationships to read English words, applying letter-sound relationships to read English phonemes, and applying knowledge of morphemes and syntax to word meaning.
Reading: Read words [112K PDF File]	K–1, 9–12	Students read and answer questions in a variety of formats addressing one of two sub-skills: classify words and demonstrate vocabulary. For Grades K–1, students select written words to match those spoken by the Test Examiner, and match pictured objects to their written descriptions.
Reading: Reading for understanding [118K PDF File]	9–12	Students read a passage and answer associated questions. Questions address three sub-skills: demonstrating reading comprehension, identifying important literary features of text, and applying learning strategies to interpretation.
Writing: Use conventions [112K PDF File]	2–3, 6–8, 9–12	Students from all grade levels are tested on three standards associated with writing conventions: using appropriate grammar, using appropriate capitalization and punctuation, and using standard sentence structure.
Writing: Write why [84K PDF File]	4–5, 6–8	Students in grades K–12 are asked to make a choice between two alternatives and write two sentences about the choice they made.

LAS Links K-12 Assessments Resources

English Language Development: Progress Monitoring Assessment using LAS Links

LAS Links can be used for English language development and progress monitoring by using a combination of the LAS Links assessments. Depending on program need and intent, LAS Links provides schools and districts with the option of measuring student progress up to five times per year.

Customer Story - Sweetwater Union High School District, Chula Vista, California

Sweetwater Union High School District implements LAS Links® in its English Language Development (ELD) courses to measure English learners' (EL's) progress and inform instructional decisions. Using the integrated suite of English language proficiency assessments from CTB/McGraw-Hill, the district reports improved student performance across all language domains and ELD levels. In addition, in 2010, the EL subgroup at every middle and high school achieved at least double its Academic Performance Index (API) target, surpassing state averages and the performance of comparable school districts in San Diego County.