How do ELP teachers manage, apply and moderate the new focus on portfolio evidence as assessment in the ESOL Literacy classes? Debora Potgieter

The portfolio method has real benefits, but those are jeopardised by the emphasis on formal assessment. This is an evolving process. The data collection forms have been repetitive at times With the class work, you can get more of a feel for what they are really able to do … It’s great to be asked how things are going. Thank you. Hopefully there will not be big changes to the requirements every year as it reduces efficiency.

Analysis of portfolios Methodology End of term 1 Analysis of portfolios Teachers and coordinators Online survey Teachers who volunteered Interviews

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PARTNERS NEW ZEALAND ESOL-LITERACY PROGRAMME PORTFOLIO SUMMARY SHEET 2016 Learner name   NSN/ID no Address Ph no Nationality Date of arrival in NZ Immigration Status on arrival First language Other languages Reading/writing in languages other than English Main language spoken at home Years of schooling (approximate) Start date (ESOL-Literacy programme) Movement (e.g. changed class, left) Teachers agreed this form was necessary (in terms of being a requirement) but difficult to find information for and updating it is a time-consuming task. Little or no bearing on recording learner progress. Recommendation: Centre staff to provide information for this form. This form was changed to a more simplified version this year. Starting score 2016 End Term 1 End Term 2 End Term 3 End Term 4  

Annotated samples of work 37% 21%

Record of observed evidence Less than 10 learners 20 or more learners One teacher explained that she used the record of observed evidence to record progress in listening and speaking skills. She evaluated learners’ participation in small group activities in class and wrote notes in her reflection on the session. She tracked learners individually over a period of time and used the reflective notes in her record of observation in the portfolio. This teacher had fewer than ten learners in her class. Another teacher mentioned that recording naturally occurring evidence during class times was a problem that she had not yet been able to solve. Naturally occurring evidence could include general small talk interactions between learners, teacher-and-learner or volunteer-and-learner. As these happened “on the fly” it was difficult to record them, yet they could potentially provide very good evidence of real progress. This teacher had more than 20 learners in her class.

Assessment Initial / diagnostic Checklist Summary assessment form

From: ELP ESOL Literacy Training session 2017

Moderation