New reports on ‘English as an Additional Language (EAL) and educational achievement in England’

Two important reports were published last Friday on ‘English as an Additional Language (EAL) and educational achievement in England’, authored by Professor Steve Strand and Professor Victoria Murphy from the University of Oxford.

These reports comprise:
· A comprehensive analysis by Professor Strand of the data relating to EAL learners in England in order to identify the most at-risk groups and predictors of low attainment for these learners; and

· A systematic review by Professor Murphy of international research into interventions designed to improve EAL pupils’ English language and literacy in order to identify the most promising approaches and interventions.
You can find both reports, together with an executive summary, on the Education Endowment Foundation’s website here:
http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/publications/eal-review/

Some of the key findings have been reported in the Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/foreign-pupils-dont-harm-grades-of-english-speakers-10012046.html) and the TES (https://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2015/01/29/eal-pupils-have-no-impact-on-native-english-speakers-39-attainment.aspx).

The Strand/Murphy reports have been jointly funded by Unbound Philanthropy, the Bell Foundation and the Education Endowment Foundation with the aim of helping teachers and schools target support to raise the attainment of at-risk EAL pupils. The three grant-makers intend to continue working together in order to fund work in schools which will improve the evidence base in this area based on the findings published.