Raising achievement of bilingual learners in primary schools
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The Department for Children, Schools and Families has recently released Raising the Achievement of Bilingual Learners in Primary Schools: Statistical Analysis. The research was conducted by a team at NFER between 2004 and 2006 and summarises the key findings from the statistical aspects of the research. It also draws upon findings from case-study visits and interviews carried out in 21 schools and seven local authorities previously published by the DfES. The aim of the statistical phase of the research was to assess the impact of the pilot on the attainment of bilingual pupils in participating primary schools.
Schools involved in the EAL programme made more progress than similar schools not involved in the programme in their Key Stage 2 English results between 2004 and 2006 but there were no significant differences in mathematics and science. There were also no significant differences in the rates of improvement for EAL and non-EAL learners in programme schools in mathematics and science nor, with one exception, in English. The one exception was English results for schools involved in cohort 2 of the programme (those that joined in 2005/06). In these schools, EAL learners made LESS progress than their monolingual counterparts ie EAL pupils' KS2 English results improved by a smaller margin than results for similar non-EAL pupils.
A news article published by the National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) on the website, argues that 'The disparity in attainment between EAL and non-EAL students indicates that whilst good practice for EAL students is good practice for all, the reverse is not always true. It is perhaps unsurprising that the pilot appears to have benefited non-EAL learners and had most impact in English rather than achievement across the curriculum, given that comments by participants in the first phase of the research suggested that many particularly valued 'good practice' literacy based strategies such as the use of curricular/layered targets to plan for language development and curriculum access, planned opportunities for speaking and listening, using 'talk partners', talk frames and role play and prioritising speaking and listening as a prelude to writing. It should also be noted that the phase 1 research report highlighted the significant difficulties in cohort 1 due to the short project lead time and the resulting difficulties in appointing consultants and providing them with support and professional development materials.
Overall, the findings appear to demonstrate that the crucial factors are quality EAL interventions across the curriculum, supported by well qualified EAL specialists with the full commitment of senior managers in schools.'
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