Assessment

In incorporating information about the assessment of bilingual pupils in curriculum sessions, it is helpful for tutors to be able to refer to a dedicated session which addressed issues of bilingual language development. In the general context of assessment, there are specific issues to be addressed in relation to bilingual pupils.These include the assessment of level of English, assessment of skills in the first language, curriculum related assessment and the complex issue of assessing to establish whether a bilingual learner has a special need or disability.

The QCA's A Language in Common is widely recommended, but has limitations when used with older pupils. It contains exemplification that can be used in training sessions. Modified and alternative models are also in use. Stages of English are still widely used to describe pupils' developing competence. The Centre for Language in Primary Education's Primary Language Record, developed in 1988 for the Inner London Education Authority provides a model of formative assessment through observation that is supportive of student teachers' developing skills . Some trainers have developed collections of samples of writing from bilingual children.

Many courses incorporate the following into sessions on assessment:

• the importance of a positive classroom environment and a fair assessment that avoids a deficit model;

• a reference to procedures commonly used in local LEAs and the schools in which students and trainee teachers are practising, for example, Stages of English (Hester, 1990)

• an introduction to A Language in Common, with use of the examples for discussion;

• the importance of an initial assessment of children's previous education and the importance of building on skills they have in their first language;

• an understanding that skills transfer from one language to another;

• assessment procedures and pro-formas that are based on observation and are designed to record the skills that children have in other languages (for example, use of the CLPE Record of Achievement or similar);

• practice in assessing, with tutor guidance, examples of children's reading and writing at different stages of bilingual development.

In high linguistic diversity settings
ITT providers in this situation generally require trainees to include bilingual children in samples of children chosen for in-depth assessment. Trainees are guided in sessions to assess children's work and plan for their development.

In low linguistic diversity settings
Some ITT providers in this situation make use of collections of children's writing, videos and tape-recordings of Miscue Analyses with bilingual children to enable trainees to gain practice in assessing children's stages of English within curriculum subjects.

QTS Standards:

Bourne and Flewitt: c, f, g, h, i
Source - Various