I appreciate how you mentioned that the main goal of assessment reform is to restore student autonomy in educational decision-making. Oftentimes, these tests/assessments are used to evaluate a multilingual students' English fluency level. And, by doing so, it evaluates whether a multilingual student should remain in the ESL/EMLL/EL classroom. As you've noted, these tests are required by national mandates and are considered a key indicator of a multilingual student's language progression. But as you've highlighted, the WIDA exam tests English language skills rather than a student's knowledge in a certain subject matter.
I believe this stems from the belief that the main purpose of multilingual classrooms and programs exist solely for multilingual students to attain English fluency and thus "test-out" of the program. Such viewpoint not only hinders a student's well-being as it shifts focus on their "deficiency" rather than their bilingual/multilingual assets, but it also pushes the framework that the only way to "succeed" is to "test-out" of the program (aka attain fluency). I agree that educators need to find ways to implement translanguaging encompassing/inclusive assessments.
I believe this stems from the belief that the main purpose of multilingual classrooms and programs exist solely for multilingual students to attain English fluency and thus "test-out" of the program. Such viewpoint not only hinders a student's well-being as it shifts focus on their "deficiency" rather than their bilingual/multilingual assets, but it also pushes the framework that the only way to "succeed" is to "test-out" of the program (aka attain fluency). I agree that educators need to find ways to implement translanguaging encompassing/inclusive assessments.