Teachers' awareness and use of scales to map the progress of children who speak English as an additional language or dialect

With the development of the English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) Teacher Resource, the educational needs and outcomes of refugee and immigrant children have been placed on the national mainstream teaching agenda. This new national resource sits alongside a plethora of other resources, known as scales and standards, which have been developed and mandated for use by various state and territory governments. Six months after the release of the national resource, this project was initiated to identify the extent of teachers' knowledge and use of scales and standards available for EAL/D learners, including the national resource, and the ways in which these resources are used. The project was initiated in two phases. The first one was conducted through a web-based survey of 105 teachers from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Queensland and South Australia. On the basis of preliminary findings from the survey, the second phase was undertaken through in-depth interviews with seven teachers from the states and territories who had been involved in the web-based survey. Results from this project corroborate research from almost twenty years ago that found that resources for EAL/D learners are underused. The position of the new national resource in relation to other available resources is unclear. The research also indicates that unless measures are taken by educational authorities, such as stronger commitment in developing the capacity of teaching staff to use the EAL/D resources, the efficacy of the resources remains a desire. [Author abstract]