ASSESSING STUDENTS WITH ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE
Are their difficulties due to EAL or Learning Difficulties?

This half day course is for everyone involved in assessing students with English as an Additional Language, including Specialist Teachers, SENCos and Educational Psychologists working at school, FE and HE level.

Centres applying for JCQ Access Arrangements for students who have English as an Additional Language are required to identify those students with learning difficulties in their preferred language, as opposed to those who have difficulties because they are yet to acquire a functional level of English. It is rarely possible to assess students using tests in their first language and this course will equip you to assess and confirm whether learning difficulties underlie a student’s problems using tests in the medium of English.
The course tutor is Jo Todd. Jo has worked in Special Education for 20 years and provides consultancy, mentoring and training for industry, government, schools, colleges and universities. She has contributed to Government sponsored projects in screening for hidden disabilities and has analys data for The Moser Report “Freedom to Learn” on literacy skills. She was a member of the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit, Dyslexia Advisory Group and worked with the Disability Rights Commission’s Autistic and Neurodiversity Working Group. Jo is a member of the ACAS Disabled People’s Involvement Forum.

The session will cover:
* Identifying potential cognitive deficits in students with EAL
* Examining cultural factors
* Recommendations for suitable tests
* Assessing for:
 - auditory and visual processing difficulties
 - short term and working memory deficits
 - communication and motor control issues

Courses

Please click on the date of the course to download full course information and application form (PDF format: to be printed and posted to the mailing address shown with payment).