Adult English Assessment

As the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse and the number of adults learning English continues to grow, the need for effective language instruction and assessment has never been greater. CAL understands the needs of language educators and programs serving adult English language learners, and we have a long-standing commitment to serving adult ESL practitioners. 

CAL uses current best practices in test development to create its assessments, which are designed to help programs evaluate students and make instructional decisions. CAL’s assessments use authentic language and communicative tasks that allow examinees to demonstrate what they know and can do in English. Our tests are reviewed and field-tested with the support of state education directors, local program directors, and experienced adult ESL teachers.  

CAL’s adult ESL proficiency assessments meet NRS reporting requirements and are designed to give programs a full range of options for their assessment needs. BEST Literacy and BEST Plus address the different needs of adult English language learners by providing assessment options that can reliably demonstrate student progress. With BEST Plus for speaking and listening skills and BEST Literacy for reading and writing skills, programs can use our assessments together to test the full range of student performance. We invite you to contact us to discuss your program’s needs. Learn more

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The Center for Applied Linguistics is a nonprofit organization promoting access, equity, and mutual understanding for linguistically and culturally diverse people around the world.