Identifying and assessing students’ spoken language skills

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to help young people develop their abilities to use spoken language effectively. Employers commonly say that members of their workforce, especially those engaged in creative activities and customer-related roles, need well-developed skills in communication and collaborative problem solving. They want people who can make clear presentations, work well in teams, listen properly to people and solve problems collaboratively. Moreover, these are skills that equip young people for full participation in active learning in school, in democratic processes and life in general. If it is accepted that schools should be helping children to develop such skills, then teachers need ways of monitoring and assessing the talk skills of their students in a classroom setting so that they can aid their development. It is for these reasons that, with funding from the Education Endowment Foundation and working with the London-based free scho