ELL Action Research

Background

The ELL impact study undertaken in 2022-23, found that students English language competencies had improved significantly. The study recommended that conducting of assessments which are a part of the ELL program need to be further explored for enhancing the effectiveness of the program and regular academic support and monitoring of the program can benefit teachers. In 2022-23, the teacher development program in ELL focused mainly on the technological aspects, in terms of installation, configuration and use of the software. In line with the study recommendations, it is proposed through an action research that a a TPD program with an emphasis on technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPCK) dimensions together will enhance ELL effectiveness. Alongside this, teachers' interactions in virtual communities of practice (COPs) can enable sharing of resources, ideas and implementation models which will enable growth in knowledge and skills and further promote their professional development and student learning.

Objectives

1. Enhance teachers’ abilities to use the E- language lab to improve/strengthen their content and pedagogy beliefs and practices through integration of technology (TPCK)
2. Enable teachers’ to create additional content in the form of contextualized and multilingual stories for their students
3. Enable teachers’ to use the assessment component of the English language lab to conduct oral assessments of the students and get a better understanding of the learning levels of their students
4. Build machine learning (AI) components that will help the teachers in using the assessment data from ELL to interpret student learning and support appropriate pedagogical strategies.
5. Build a better understanding of how teacher development program focusing on developing communities of practice (COPs) can support teacher professional development .

Scope and Approach

In collaboration with KITE, ITfC will work with KITE MTs and select teachers on teacher training (one workshop per term) for the following activities:

1. Creating audio and video resources (contextualized, multilingual stories/activities)
2. Transaction models for classroom and lab with focus on assessments using ML.
3. CoPs for continuous pedagogical support to teachers to enhance capacities and reflect on beliefs
4. Supporting school-level interactions where teachers will conduct audio activities and review assessment analysis (ML)
5. ITfC will conduct action research to document processes and outcomes to understand impact of teacher development and ML implementation in ELL for improved student learning. For this, 3-4 sub-districts will be selected based on demographic factors (rural, urban, migrant, tribal). Tools for the research would include online surveys, FGDs, in-person interactions, and a ‘reflection lab’ (documenting innovative models and classroom practices, discussions on teaching ideas, etc)

Plan of Action

Month	Mode	Proposed Activity
Nov 23	In person	Module 1: 1. Introductions, overview of the program, understanding beliefs and practices 2. Understanding ELL, it’s benefits and impact. 3. About language learning and acquisition - breaking common myths and misconceptions 4. Constructing a lesson with digital integrated activities for LSRW, vocabulary and creative expression. 5. Providing support and feedback to students – developing a checklist 6. Creation and planning of CoPs 7. How to create and maintain mentee teacher profiles 8. Assignment, Reflections and next steps
Nov 23	Online	Experience sharing, feedback discussions on progress, next steps. Interaction through COPs and through scheduled online sessions In select schools, support teachers (through school level interactions) in processing assessment data (through algorithms) for understanding student work better and to support appropriate teacher pedagogies responding to students
Dec 23	In person	Module 2: 1 How to interpret understand and internalize TCK and TPK with examples 2. What would TPCK in classrooms looks like. What would be good practices worth sharing. 3. How can we help build/strengtehen TPCK? 4. Studying TPCK in teachers and including it in teacher profiles. 5. Assignment, Reflections and next steps
Dec 23	Online	Experience sharing, feedback, discussions on progress, next steps

Workshop 1 activities

1. ELL Action Research_Pre-workshop Interactions and Reflections
2. ELL Action Research_Introduction to the workshop
3. ELL Action Research_ELL benefits and impact
4. ELL Action Research_Constructing a lesson with digital integrated activities
5. ELL Action Research_Reflection on the lesson construction activities
6. ELL Action Research_About language learning and acquisition
7. ELL Action Research_Providing support and feedback to students – developing a checklist
8. ELL Action Research_Introduction to Moodle
9. ELL Action Research_Creation and planning of CoPs
10. ELL Action Research_Assignment
11. ELL Action Research_Reflections and next steps