M-STEP Guide for
Teachers of Students
Who are English
Learners (EL)
Everything (or almost everything) Teachers of
Students Who Are English Learners
Need to Know About M-STEP
Overview
Assessment Structure
Universal Tools, Designated
Supports, and Accommodations
ELs with Low English Prociency or
Students in Bilingual Programs
Trying Out the Online Universal Tools, Designated
Supports, and Accommodations
Individualized Needs
English Learners
ELEL
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 2 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
Overview
This guide addresses some of the major
questions teachers might have related to the
kinds of Universal Tools, Designated Supports,
and Accommodations that are allowable
for students on the M-STEP assessments.
Note: Much of the information in this
document can be found in the Supports and
Accommodations Guidance Document.
You are encouraged to read this document in
its entirety.
Assessment Structure
The M-STEP is composed of the following
content areas and language domains in the
corresponding grade levels:
Mathematics - Grades 3-7: Reading is
required to answer a variety of question types
which include graphs, diagrams, charts.
English language arts (ELA) – Grades 3-7:
Reading is required to answer a variety of
question types, Typing (or Writing) is required to
answer some constructed response questions,
Listening is required to answer content
provided via audio.
Science – Grades 5, 8, 11: Reading is required
to answer a variety of question types which
include using diagrams, charts, photographs.
Social Studies – Grades 5, 8, 11: Reading
is required to answer a variety of question
types include using diagrams, charts, maps,
photographs.
The default mode for testing is online.
However, a student may take the paper/pencil
form of the assessment.
The default language for all content areas
is English. However, the content of the
mathematics, science, and social studies tests
can be translated for students who need a
word, phrase, or an entire test translated.
None of the content of the M-STEP ELA test
can be translated for students taking that
assessment.
Universal Tools, Designated
Supports, and Accommodations
Intermediate to Nearly
Procient English Learners
Paper-based Bilingual
Word-to-Word Dictionary
This support is intended for students who
use such paper-based dictionaries on a
regular basis in the classroom to aid in their
understanding of content in their core subject
areas. It is likely that even students who are at
the low English prociency levels might use
such a dictionary/glossary every day in their
class work.
However, students using this support during
testing are expected to be actually literate in
the target language and have literacy skills
in English. Giving this support during testing
to a student who is not literate in the target
language or in English will likely result in a
negative impact on the student’s performance
on the test.
Students may use this Designated Support
when they are taking the paper/pencil or
online M-STEP mathematics, science, or social
studies assessments. Note: Students may not
use electronic or online bilingual word-to-word
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 3 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
option to view a list of words that have been
translated in the target language for a select
set of questions and words.
Test Timing
EL students using additional supports such
as a bilingual word-to-word dictionary or the
L1 glossary will likely need additional time to
complete the assessments, because of the
additional time it takes for students to use
these tools. The good news is that the M-STEP
assessments are not timed, so students can
take as long as they need to complete the
test, provided the time they spend falls within
the appropriate testing window. Refer to the
M-STEP Important Dates document for more
information about the testing windows.
Text-to-Speech
There are two types of text-to-speech (TTS)
options for students taking the online M-STEP
assessments. Both options provide an English
synthesized voice for students. A very small
percentage of ELs may benet from using
this type of support. Some EL students may
need to have an in-person human reader,
because they nd the synthesized voice of
the TTS is distracting or it provides a negative
experience. In these cases, refer to the section
of this document related to using in-person
human readers.
The two different text-to-speech options
that can be enabled by your district’s test
coordinator are:
• Text-to-Speech (TTS) – Designated
Support
– Available for M-STEP mathematics,
science, social studies, and English
language arts; available for students
at all assessed grade levels
– Reads aloud the test questions,
passage-based writing readings, and
answer options
– Students can replay the audio as
many times as they would like
dictionaries during testing, since this would be
a potential test security issue.
Students who are considered to be a recent
arrivals (that is, being enrolled in schools in the
United States for less than 12 months) might
be eligible for a rst-year exemption from the
M-STEP ELA test. For information on this, refer
to the section on this topic in the Supports and
Accommodations Guidance Document on the
M-STEP website.
This Designated Support is best suited for
intermediate to near/procient EL students,
because of the time-consuming nature of using
it during testing. Students with lower English
prociency might attempt to look up every
single word within a test question. Always be
that EL students may need signicantly more
time to take the test than most other students.
Glossaries
Students may benet from using these
glossary options that provide an efcient
way to access selected words from the
mathematics assessment. This Designated
Support is best suited for intermediate to near/
procient EL students because of the limited
nature of the words available in these glossary
options.
L1 Glossary - Paper/Pencil
Mathematics Only
These translated glossaries are provided for
selected construct-irrelevant terms in the
mathematics assessment. This support is only
available for the paper/pencil assessment,
because the glossary lists words that are
specic to each test question. The regular
online M-STEP mathematics test is a computer
adaptive assessment, so the L1 glossary
cannot be used.
Embedded Arabic or Spanish
Glossary - Online Mathematics Only
A student can have the Arabic or Spanish
Glossary enabled for them in the online testing
engine. This support provides students with an
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 4 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
• Text-to-Speech Passage
(TTS Passage) – Accommodation
– Available for M-STEP English
language arts, only for students
in grades 6-7 whose IEP or 504
indicates this need
– Reads aloud the test questions,
passaged-based writing readings,
answer options, and reading
passages
– Students can replay the audio as
many times as they would like
In-Person Human Reader
An in-person human reader (reading in English)
can be used for any of the content areas.
However, there are some differences between
such use for the paper/pencil test and for the
online test.
An in-person human reader can be used with
students who may:
• strongly need to have the test
administered by someone with whom
they are familiar (that is, their daily
instructor)
• have a difcult time understanding the
synthesized voice produced by the
online system’s text-to-speech
An in-person human reader (reads aloud text
in English, not another language) can be
used in the following ways for the M-STEP:
• Mathematics: Can be used with online
or paper/pencil testing; must be
administered in a one-on-one setting for
online testing; the Read-Aloud Guidelines
in the Supports and Accommodations
Guidance Document must be used
• ELA: Can be used with online or paper/
pencil testing; must be administered
in a one-on-one setting for online
testing; the Read-Aloud Guidelines in
the Supports and Accommodations
Guidance Document must be used
- read-aloud for questions and answer
options (Designated Support)
- read-aloud for questions, answer
options, and reading passages
(Accommodation) – only for
students with IEPs or 504 plans in
grades 6-7 whose plans identify
the need for this Accommodation
• Science and Social Studies: Can be
used as a support only for the paper/
pencil testing; the reader must use the
Reader Script, which is only available
for the paper/pencil test (if you are
administering the M-STEP assessment
and you do not have the Reader Script,
obtain it from your Building or District
M-STEP Coordinator); the assessment
can be administered to an individual
student or in a small group of no more
than 5 students of the same grade level
and content area
ELs with Low English Prociency
or Students in Bilingual Programs
Full On-the-Fly Oral
Translations
This Designated Support is intended for use
with students who are uent in a language
other than English. It is intended to be used
by students who in bilingual programs or
who might have more uency in their native
language than in English. Use of this support
assumes that a student is better able to show
their knowledge of the content in a language
other than English. Use of this support with
students whose uency in a language other
than English is low may result in less valid
assessment results.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 5 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
Note: Do not provide an oral translator for
students just for the purpose of taking the
state assessments. If you are not providing
this service to students on a regular basis in
the classroom, you should not provide this
Designated Support for the test.
This Designated Support is only available
for M-STEP mathematics, science, and social
studies. It is not available for ELA because that
assessment assesses the student’s language
arts knowledge within the English language.
The use of this support may result in the
student needing additional time to complete
the assessment.
Schools that want to provide oral translations
in one language to multiple students may do
so using the paper/pencil assessment (in small
groups of no more than ve students), or they
may provide the support as an individual test
administration for online test-takers.
For the M-STEP science and social studies
assessments, test administrators must use the
Reader Script provide an oral translation if a
paper/pencil assessment and corresponding
DVDs are not used (Arabic DVD and Spanish
DVD). Note: Reader Scripts are not available
for all assessments and content areas.
Spanish and Arabic
On-the-Fly Translations of
the M-STEP Mathematics
Assessment
District and building coordinators should
ensure translators being used for the
M-STEP Mathematics assessment have
reviewed the M-STEP Spanish Read-Aloud
Guidelines or the M-STEP Arabic Read-Aloud
Guidelines available in the Supports and
Accommodations Guidance Document.
Full Text Spanish Translation
– Stacked Spanish
Students with written Spanish uency may
take the full text Spanish form of M-STEP
mathematics or social studies assessment only.
Mathematics is available for online and paper/
pencil testing. Social studies is available for
online testing only. Whether online or paper/
pencil, the student will see the test questions
and answer options in Spanish and in English.
Ideally, students using this support are
procient in Spanish and have high Spanish
literacy skills. Use of this support will increase
the student’s reading and cognitive load
during testing.
Important Spanish
Audio Note
Students who take the online form of the
Stacked Spanish mathematics M-STEP will now
hear a Spanish audio track along with each
test question. The audio will play automatically
for students, who can repeat the audio as
many times as they would like. The audio will
read aloud all the Spanish questions and the
Spanish answer options.
Because the audio plays automatically,
students will need headphones. Students
who do not need or want the audio can have
the audio on their computer disabled or the
volume turned down before the INSIGHT
testing program is launched.
Students who take the paper/pencil Stacked
Spanish test can have the test questions and
answer options read aloud to them in Spanish
(on-the-y translation). This Spanish read-aloud
support, offered small groups of no more than
ve students, may be provided for the paper/
pencil assessment only.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 6 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
Arabic and Spanish DVDs
This support is only available to students
taking the paper/pencil M-STEP science and
social studies tests. It is intended for use with
students who are uent in Spanish or Arabic.
Moreover, it is intended for use by students in
bilingual programs or whose native language
uency is greater than their English uency,
with the assumption that the student is better
able to show knowledge of the content in
a language other than English. Use of this
support with students with lower uency in
a language other than English may result in
less valid assessment results. Also, the use of
this support may result in the student needing
additional time to complete the assessment.
This support may be used in an individual
setting or for a small group of no more than
ve students.
DVDs are designed to be used with a
television and DVD player, as this equipment
will produce the highest quality results. Video
DVDs correspond to a Form 1 test booklet
(even though a school may be taking another
form of the test).
As students watch the DVD they will be
presented with each English test question on
the screen as it appears in their test booklet.
However, students will hear the test question
and answer options read aloud to them in
Arabic or Spanish.
Paper/Pencil Tests for
Recently Arrived Students
Some students who are considered to be
a recent arrivals (that is, being enrolled in
schools in the United States for less than
12 months) might benet from taking the
paper/pencil M-STEP tests. Educators may
order paper/pencil tests during the material
order windows. While these students are not
required to take a paper/pencil test, educators
may use their knowledge about what is best
for student when deciding to administer the
test in the paper/pencil or online forms.
Translator Qualications
Not every educator is qualied to administer
the test for a student with an on-the-y
translation. Refer to the Recommended
Qualications for Translators section of the
Supports and Accommodations Guidance
Document for more information.
Tips for On-the-Fly Oral
Translators: To Monotone
or Not to Monotone
The Read-Aloud Guidelines found in the
Supports and Accommodations Guidance
Document say that readers should “strive to
communicate in a neutral tone and maintain
a neutral facial expression and posture.” This
does NOT mean that readers have to read in a
monotone voice without any inection. It does
mean that readers should not overexaggerate
words/phrases/sentences/punctuation in a
manner that would provide an unnecessary
emphasis on any part of the test.
Similarly, the Guidelines indicates that readers
should “avoid gestures, head movements, or
any verbal or non-verbal emphasis on words
not otherwise emphasized in text.” Again, the
point of this guidance is to ensure that readers
are not exaggerating movements that might
give away answers. Remember that the tests
are designed to show what the student knows,
not what the reader knows.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 7 M-STEP Guide for Teachers of EL Students
Individualized Needs
Because of the very individualized needs of
many of your students, you may come across
a scenario that doesn’t t neatly into the areas
described in this document. When those arise,
contact Jen Paul at the Michigan Department
of Education for help in determining
what might work best. Send an e-mail to
[email protected] to ask with your
question or to set up a time to talk.
The M-STEP website provides additional
helpful resources for educators. Consult your
District’s Assessment Coordinator for further
information and resources. If you feel the
the district coordinator is not adequately
addressing all aspects of the M-STEP test –
including making sure your students’ needs are
being met during testing – become your own
advocate for your students.
Trying Out the Online
Universal Tools, Designated
Supports, and Accommodations
The only way that you and students can
determine if a tool meets their needs is to
have them try out the tools. You can try out
all of the online Universal Tools, Designated
Supports, and Accommodations by following
the directions to access the Online Tools
Trainings (OTTs) at this link.
