Changes have happened for Educating ELL students in Ontario. Last year before I left on my maternity leave we assessed ELL students according to stages of language acquisition. Teachers were getting used to what stage their students were in, and how that affected the student in the classroom. Well folks it’s changed. Really it is for the better, but of course, there will be growing pains. Four stages have been replaced by 6 STEPs.
The STEPs for Ontario ELLs
These steps help explain to teachers the large changes that occur in a student between the beginning of stage 1 to the end of stage 2. This period is now covered by about 3 of the 6 steps. Additionally, these steps are better aligned with the language curriculum and growing success document. Ideally, this will help classroom teachers with understanding how the goals of the curriculum and the goals of language acquisition fit together. Check out the indicators for each step and grade level. (Step Continua).
So maybe you don’t teach in Ontario, well this continua is still a great way to understand the progression of language development in relation to your own curriculum standards.
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