[ashley7]

In our school EAL has never had a separate program or a leader to run and implement assessment.
We are starting from scratch and are trying to plan, implement and assess an effective EAL program.
In this progress, we are trying to learn from other schools and the recent workshops.

We understand the junior primary standards are assessed in the A1 and A2 standards and the mid to senior primary standards in the B1, B2, B3 standards(as seen in the EAL companion diagram).
A question that is coming up in our school:
What if students complete the A1, A2 standards before the end of grade 2, but are still not sufficient enough to be taken of an EAL report?
Should they stay at A2 until they reach grade 3 and begin the B standards?
Or is it that possible our assessment or judgement is not as accurate and effective as we should be?

Thank you,
Ashley

[jeanette66]

Are you moving the students along the A stages every 6 months as is done for the Victorian curriculum?

If you are able to highlight every one of the indicators of progress against the modes (L&S, R and W) as being achieved, then the student should be proficient in English and should be able to be assessed ‘at standard’ against the Victorian curriculum. If they are not able to demonstrate that they have achieved the indicators of progress in all 3 modes, then they haven’t “completed” the stages. They then stay on the A stages until they are proficient. This means that they may then have to move to the B stages in year 3 if they still on the continuum.

Teachers need to ensure that the students demonstrate achievement for an indicator of progress at least 3 times before they can be considered to have achieved that indicator.

Jeanette and Bronwyn

[mrsboomsma]

At our school the staff have been having a lot of trouble with feeling confident that EAL students progress is being assessed appropriately.

My understanding is that EAL students who have English that is proficient enough to be that of their English speaking peers, should be moved from being assessed against the EAL Continuum to the Vic Curric.
However, we are trying to drive home to our Junior Teachers not to rush EAL students through the A stages as the competencies that they show in the junior years are likely to plateau once they are in Year 3 as the gap between EAL Continuum and Vic Curric. widens significantly.

As someone was saying on Friday last week, having a meeting to discuss the decision to move a student from EAL Continuum to Vic Curric would be very beneficial. I believe this meeting should involving the classroom teacher, EAL specialist and AP as this gives time to explore the students progress, moderate and assess the students abilities in comparison to that of their English speaking peers. It also allows the decision to becomes a team decision rather than an individual teachers judgement.

-Lexie

[yallen1]

At our school the EAL teachers regularly meet with classroom teachers of EAL students to discuss progress and moderate with progression points. The assistant principals don’t meet with us as they don’t have the knowledge of the students. We are at a large school with over 100 EAL students. We have annotated samples of the students’ writing to refer to during moderation. With reading we use the same assessment for oral retells and comprehension as the classroom teachers to ensure consistency of assessment.
Deb Osborn and Yvonne Allen

[kristinwilliamson]

Hi Ashley,

As mentioned above, if the student has achieved A2.3 in all 3 aspects of Reading, Writing and S & L – then then are most likely working at the equivalent Vic Curric Level (or close to it). I think it is ok to leave them on A2.3 for a semester if you have reservations (e.g. a grade 2 student is about to move into Grade 3 and you are concerned about their ability to cope on Vic Curric).

Generally, if a student is working at or above standard according to Vic Curric – then it is probably more appropriate for them to come off the EAL continuum.

Kristin

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