Researchers: Janet Perry-Payne, Elizabeth Tumblin, & Paula Clark (EAL/FAL Reception Centre); Dr. Sandy McAuley & Dr. Miles Turnbull (UPEI Faculty of Education, collaborators)

Research Rationale: The dramatic increases in English/French as an Additional Language (EAL/FAL) students over the last five years has led to changes in priorities for Island educators. Currently, there are almost 600 EAL/FAL students in 39 Island schools, up from twenty EAL/FAL students in all Island schools just five years ago. Over 300 EAL students are in grades 1-9 within the Western School Board and the Eastern School District. Over one third of those EAL students are at the beginning level of English language proficiency, including 60 students who may have limited prior schooling, given their refugee status. This influx of students from around the world into Island classrooms has led Island educators to identify assessment and teaching strategies for diverse learners as their top priority in terms of concerns. Staff of the EAL/FAL Reception Centre through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development provide both direct and indirect support to EAL/FAL students across the Island.

Staff of the EAL/FAL Reception Centre have been addressing teaching strategies on an ongoing basis, but have discovered the whole realm of assessment and diversity to require further research. Staff have observed, and had preliminary discussions, regarding assessment and evaluation through various workshops, presentations, in-services, discussions with individual school staff/administrative teams, school board personnel, PEITF, and EAL/FAL itinerant teachers. They are witnessing a reactionary mode when it comes to assessment, complicated by test/marks cycles, pressures form home for many immigrant children, limited prior schooling for some students and concerns about implications of assessment for EAL students in general. Therefore, pursuing research about assessment, how to assess for learning, evaluate and report, would be very valuable for many Island educators and could contribute to improved student learning.

Research Project: This qualitative research project will explore assessment and diversity through alternative methods of teacher professional development, including virtual learning, enhancing  literacy development for educators and ultimately students, and potentially changing how educators plan for instruction and assess for learning. The initial question guiding the research is How are we currently assessing EAL/FAL learners? As the research continues, the team wishes to explore the following question: Based on discussions, modeling, sharing of best practices, etc., have assessment practices changed to better meet the needs of EAL learners? These questions represent the initial phase where the focus will be on potential changes in beliefs/attitudes about assessment and diversity.

Research Methodology: The research team will employ an action research approach by posing initial questions, gathering data, reflecting on new learning, and deciding next steps to capture the learning, with potential results of improving the quality of educational experiences for all students, with a particular focus on EAL students. The three research leaders will pair up with three other EAL/FAL Reception Centre co-leaders to coordinate teams representing grades 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9 educators. Each team will consist of three EAL Itinerant teachers and six classroom teachers of EAL students, ensuring two teachers at each of the grade levels.

In preparation for the project, the team will research assessment and diversity through the use of text and online resources, as well as through participation in the TESOL Conference "Re-Imagining Student Engagement through Best Practices & Programs." The team will investigate what other jurisdictions across the country are doing in terms of assessment and evaluation practices for English as an Additional Languages learners, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoa, and Ontario, as these areas have been supporting EAL learners for quite some time.

Team leaders will conduct interviews with EAL Itinerant teachers and classroom teachers to explore educaors' initial beliefs about assessment, evaluation, and reporting, and how that transfers into their classroom practices with EAL/FAL students.

Signifance/Future Use: The research team wishes to use a variety of strategies in this action research process, such as interactive workshops, both face-to-face and online using Elluminate Live!, a virtual environment for real-time web collaboration. These practical workshops will include the modeling of assessment techniques, with the expectation that educators involved will explore these strategies with their students and contribute their reflections online collaboratively through the Knowledge Forum database. Data gathered through the entire process (included theme anaylsis of the online discussions) will be considered in the creation of a final report that will be shared through various research forums and professional development sessions. The net result will be a deeper understanding of teachers' needs with respect to assessment in additional language contexts, a range of assessment strategies that can be shared and implemented, as well as a variety of effective dissemination strategies for learning.