Larry Hope Jack McMaster Jeannie McMaster

 a research project to develop and evaluate strategies and approaches to oral language assessment and instruction  aim to assist the language development of all students and help close the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal JK, SK( ) and Grade 1 students (2009)

 Many students commence school with low levels of oral language  Because it provides the foundation of reading and writing, it is vital that teachers give close attention to oral language and adjust their instructional language and teaching approaches to get all students to high levels

 Oral Language Assessment – short screening test, consisting of 15 sentences, comprising three sets of five sentence types. A student receives a score of ‘1’ for every sentence repeated correctly. The possible range of total scores is thus from Distribution of OLA Total Scores by Grade: SIP, September 2008

 Aboriginal students generally progressed at the same rate as their Non-Aboriginal peers, although from a much lower starting point.  At the end of the year, the profile of SK Aboriginal students was virtually indistinguishable from that for JK Non- Aboriginal students.

 To go deeper in bringing about change in our Oral Language instruction – to take the strategies into grade 2 and then grade 3  To build internal capacity within the participating NOEL boards so that the improvements become self-sustaining  To build lateral capacity that would enable the understandings and practices developed to be implemented across the province.