Assessment and Tracking Progress

EAL learners can take up to 6 years to become proficient users of English and it is important that their progress in acquiring English is tracked and appropriate language targets are set.

Background Information

It is essential to collect as much background information as possible on newly arrived pupils. Our Access to Education Team and MLAs are available to assist with initial parent meetings to ensure that appropriate information is collected.

EAL Assessment Framework

Newly arrived pupils should be placed on a tracking system. The Bell Foundation have a free to download, award-winning framework.

The framework covers the four areas of language (understanding, speaking, reading and writing) and is linked to the five-point (A-E) English proficiency scale which was introduced by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2016. There are two documents, one for primary schools (key stages 1 and 2) and one for secondary schools (key stages 3 and 4).

The Bell Foundation Support Strategies documents for secondary and for primary aged children, also outline suggested teaching and learning strategies to be used in class based on a pupil's English proficiency level.

Assessing English Proficiency in Reception

EMAS are aware that assessing English Proficiency in the Early Years Foundation Stage can be difficult due to a lack of available resources aimed at EAL learners. Therefore, we have been working together with colleagues in Early Years settings facilitating a working party to develop a bespoke set of scales for Coventry schools and other Early Years settings to assess and record the English proficiency progress of our English as an additional language (EAL) learners in EYFS. Download our EYFS tracker, accompanying support strategies and language background form in Coventry schools. Please contact us if you wish to offer feedback or find out more.

Home Language Assessment

• It can show how well-developed a home language is and how it can be used to support English language development.
• It can help practitioners understand the literacy skills that a learner may have in their home language.
• It can indicate the attitudes and experience that an EAL has towards learning in both the home language and English.

Things to consider…

• Avoid translating standardised assessments as languages do not translate exactly
• The learner may have knowledge of certain things in one language but finds it difficult to express in another language. For example, a learner may be able to name the rooms in the house in one language and describe the life cycle of a frog in another.
• Be aware that if there is no local community that share the same home language that parents may find it difficult to maintain their home language

Assessing first/home language

• Obtain the necessary background information (languages, dialects, religion and customs)about the EAL learner’s family so that the appropriate interpreter can be found.
• It is better not to use relatives or close friends of the family when sensitive issues are being discussed.
• Brief the interpreter effectively.  If possible show them any forms and assessments that are being used prior to the interview/assessment.  Explain why the information is being gathered or the purpose of the assessment.
• Observe the body language of the learner and the interpreter to ensure that the learner is comfortable with the interpreter.

Standardised Assessments

The use of standardised tests, particularly with pupils who are in their early stages of acquiring English, is unlikely to produce reliable results for a number of reasons:

• Tests that are designed to assess reading ages, verbal reasoning, spelling and reading comprehension have been designed to assess the literacy skills of Pupils whose first language is English.
• The language used in the assessment is often de-contextualised and may contain cultural references and vocabulary that the learner has never come across (even if translated into their home language)
• They often have an emphasis on grammar. Early-stage EAL learners will not have enough experience of English grammar and so will be unfairly disadvantaged. The grammar progression which is being tested will differ from language to language and therefore it is not advisable to simply translate standardised tests.
• Education systems and assessments differ from country to country so EAL learners may well be unfamiliar with the format and content standardised assessments such as CATs.
• Standardised tests are often standardised on monolingual learners.

Further assessments to consider for EAL Learners

• The CAML-yl assessment by Eltwell is a set of activities that are designed to identify specific learning differences in multi-lingual learners. The assessment is not intended to provide a “diagnosis” but rather to provide indicators of the areas in which there may be difficulties/differences. The assessments are not dependent on English for success and are designed to assess skills, rather than language proficiency. The results can provide a useful indicator of where children may be having difficulties. 
• York Assessment for Reading for Comprehension is normed on EAL as well as monolingual learners although only a small percentage.
• Renfrew Action Picture Test is used as the baseline for the Talking Partners intervention. Scores are not interpreted but progress is measured from the outset of the intervention and then again at the end.
• K-ABC Kauffman Assessment Battery for Children minimises the role of language ability.
• Canope are maths and reading assessments for secondary age pupils in multiple languages.