The principles of Effective World Languages programs and EP

This article contains an overview of how the Education Perfect Languages platform can support the Principles of Effective World Languages Programs. 

The EP Languages program offers a large library of highly scaffolded and interactive lessons. Aligned to the ACTFL Proficiency levels, our lessons enable the practice of all language learning skills in authentic contexts. 

Lessons are combined with automatic marking and rich data insights on student progress. In addition, personalized learning pathways can be assigned based on students’ strengths and weaknesses. 

In this document, we give an overview of how the EP platform can support the principles of the Effective World Languages Program developed by the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL).

Principle

How EP supports this principle

Program design
Effective World Language Programs provide access to all students.
The EP platform is accessible from any device where there is an internet connection. This means that language learning can be offered to communities even when there is not a specialist teacher in a particular language.

It makes language learning accessible for students who may need to work from home for whatever reason, and it makes language learning more accessible for students with diverse needs through many of the platform features. 
Effective World Language Programs routinely collect and analyze data.
The EP platform provides a number of different options for ongoing data collection and analysis throughout the year. The data provided through the Task functionality allows teachers to track completion of work and see where students are having difficulty, Similarly, the Assessment functionality provides numerical summative data.
Effective World Language Programs have access to the tools and resources to maximize student language growth.
EP provides a comprehensive bank of learning tools and resources which can be aligned to the World Languages curriculum of each district and also provides opportunities for assessment and data collection. 

Curriculum
The curriculum in Effective World Language Programs is aligned with clearly defined proficiency targets.
The EP Languages courses are aligned to the ACTFL proficiency levels. 
Effective World Language Programs use Backwards Design Principles.
Each lesson in the EP platform presents learning outcomes that demonstrate what students will learn in completing the lesson/unit and what they will be able to do. 
The EP team are currently working on building “Can do” statements into this framework. 
Effective World Language Programs build thematic units that leverage student motivation to increase proficiency.
The EP Languages platform is based on a series of thematic based units across different levels which help build students' proficiency in each of the key language learning skills. The lessons within each thematic unit are designed to be highly engaging with authentic contexts and interactive elements. 
Effective World Language Programs use can-do statements in student-friendly terms to identify indicators of language performance and motivate students
The EP team are in the process of integrating "Can do" statements into all of the core content. 
Effective World Language Programs embed regular opportunities for students to interact with authentic sources, including native speakers of the target language.
Authentic contexts are woven through all of the EP core content. This includes authentic text types, authentic video content, authentic task based lessons and authentic listening texts with native speaker recordings. 

Assessment
Effective World Language Programs use assessment to leverage student motivation.
The EP platform offers a very comprehensive assessment tool where teachers can assign pre-built assessment tasks, quick tests or create their own assessment tasks. Teachers are able to set different assessments for different students and they are able to assign individualized learning pathways based on the results of the assessment. 
Effective World Language Programs take a balanced assessment approach to increase student proficiency.
The assessment tools within the platform allow teachers to assess all the modes of communication in both a formative and summative way. 
Effective World Language Programs use feedback to increase student proficiency.
The EP platform provides a thorough feedback tool, allowing teachers to give feedback on all long answer and recorded questions. There is the opportunity for teachers to suggest that students re-work their answers based on feedback and resubmit. 

The platform also allows students to provide feedback on each others’ work. 
Effective World Language Programs monitor and document student growth through performance assessment. The EP team are in the process of developing a bank of assessments in authentic contexts. 

The data analysis provided on assessments set within the platform is comprehensive, allowing teachers to easily track student progress and report to parents and management. EP makes it easy to make decisions for next steps in learning. 
Effective World Language Programs use student growth data to drive programmatic decision making.
Teachers are able to access comprehensive data within the EP platform and can use this information not only for reporting but to plan their next steps. 

Teachers are able to set individualized learning pathways based on the students’ results in an assessment. 

Teacher Effectiveness
Effective World Language Program staff build and refine their content knowledge and skills.
Teachers can be learners through the EP platform. If they are not already specialists in a language - they can use the platform to help them develop their language skills or maybe they might like to learn another language through the platform. 

EP also runs several different professional development courses/training for teachers throughout the year. 

When schools or school districts subscribe to EP, regular professional development and support is available from our local teacher consultant. 
Effective World Language Programs develop, empower, and retain teachers.
The EP platform supports World Languages teachers in many ways. It can save valuable teacher time and reduce teacher workload. Some examples of how include:

  • Teachers are provided with a large bank of prebuilt lessons. Time is saved with marking and analysis of data.
  • It also allows teachers to learn the language alongside the students if they are not specialists or improve their proficiency in the language.
The platform empowers teachers in many ways and therefore supports the retention of teachers. 
Effective World Language Programs encourage and support teachers to give back to the profession.
Teachers are able to build content within the platform and share this both locally and globally. 

For any questions or for further information, please feel welcome to contact us.

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