AssessmentAiming High identified the need to establish a common national approach to assessment. This approach does not entail development of a separate assessment scale for bilingual learners or even adapting existing national curriculum measures. The position was set out in guidance on the use of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (DfES 2004) as follows: "Summative assessment for bilingual pupils, as for all pupils, should be based on national curriculum measures, where applicable using the QCA EAL steps as an extension of the national curriculum English scale."
Schools are not expected to provide additional records for pupils learning English as an additional language that duplicate performance information held elsewhere in the school. It is particularly important that any records of progress kept by staff providing addition support are streamlined with core school assessment procedures.
As well as finding ways to build on their pupils' knowledge of other languages and cultures, teachers must ensure that all their pupils develop as competent and confident speakers and writers of English. The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) document 'A language in common' is intended to help teachers do this. It focuses in particular on ways of assessing the early progress pupils make in learning English as an additional language (EAL), in such a way as to ensure that pupils' attainment is appropriately linked to their full national curriculum entitlement.
The DCSF is currently conducting a review of the booklet 'A language in common' with the aim of providing a resource that supports teachers and makes links with APP (assessing pupil progress) in relation to EAL learners. Some of the aims include making explicit the application and relevance of APP to EAL learners and enabling teachers to identify next steps in learning based on effective diagnostic assessment. We intend that the revised document will be available online on QCDA's website from the 2010/11 academic year.
The publication Marking Progress, is designed to support teachers' assessment of English as an Additional Language. Download Marking Progress (PDF 1.13 MB)
The Publication Aiming High: Guidance on the assessment of pupils learning English as an additional language, provides further detail to support school managers, mainstream and specialist teachers and teaching assistants to make appropriate provisions for pupils learning English as an additional language. |
