English Proficiency Assessments of Primary and Secondary Teachers and Students Participating in English in Action: Second Cohort (2013)

Background The purpose of the study was to assess the student learning outcomes of English in Action’s (EIA’s) School Based Teacher Development programme, in terms of improved English language (EL) competence, against recognised international frameworks (specifically, the Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE) (Trinity College London [TCL] 2013), which map onto the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Trinity College London 2007)). Measurably improved student learning outcomes are the ultimate test of success of a teacher development programme. A secondary purpose of the study was to explore whether there was any related increase in teachers’ EL competence. English Proficiency Assessments 2013 is a repeat of the study on the pilot EIA programme (Cohort 1) (EIA 2012). The students and teachers of Cohort 2 are sixfold greater in number (4,368 teachers, compared with 751 teachers, in schools). To enable this increase in scale, the programme has been delivered through a more decentralised model, with much less direct contact with English language teaching (ELT) experts, a greater embedding of expertise within teacher development materials (especially video), and a greater dependence upon localised peer support. This report addresses two research questions: 1. To what extent do the teachers and students of Cohort 2 show improved post-intervention EL proficiencies, in speaking and listening, compared with the Cohort 1 2010 pre-intervention baseline? 2. To what extent has the programme been successful in repeating the 2011 post-intervention improvements in EL proficiencies seen in Cohort 1, at the much larger scale of Cohort 2?