Future Directions TESL Ontario Conference December 11, 2009

1. Future Directions TESL Ontario Conference December 11, 2009

2. Immigration to Canada and Ontario Canada has maintained the highest relative level of immigration of any major western country In 2010, Canada intends to welcome 240,000 to 265,000 Permanent Residents In 2008, Ontario received 107,047 immigrants or 43.6 % of the national total. The Government of Canada’s increase of $1.4 billion over five years to fund settlement programs is helping newcomers obtain language training, job counselling, and information services to better integrate into Canadian society. 2

3. Our Settlement Pathway • Before we left our home country, we visited the Going to Canada Immigration Portal www.goingtoCanada.gc.ca and the provincial and municipal portals. • We watched videos that illustrate daily life in Canada: • Canada Day to Day • Ontario Day to Day • At the Port of Entry, we received an information package about settlement services in Ontario.

4. We Can Find Lots of Help on Our Settlement Path • Settlement Services in Ontario • Provided by 128 ISAP Service Providing Organizations • Newcomer Information Centres • Client-centred services for youth, women, and seniors • SWIS: Settlement Workers in Schools • Library Settlement Partnerships • Orientation to Ontario course • Host • Welcoming Communities Initiatives • Language Interpretation & Translation Services • 211

5. The Organizations and Communities that Help Newcomers are Getting Help too • Capacity Building • Corporate Governance training for organizations • Professional Development • Conferences • Innovative partnerships • Newcomer awareness courses for hospital staff • Translation of medical information materials • Local Immigration Partnerships • Enhance service delivery networks • Support integration of newcomers in local communities • All LIPs Agreements in place by the end of this fiscal

6. We realize that we need language trainingand there is language training available • Federal Programs • Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada • Enhanced Language Training • Occupation-specific Language Training • Home Study • Provincial Programs • Adult Non-Credit ESL/FSL/CL (MCI) • Specialized Language Training (MCI) • Bridge Training (MCI) • Adult Credit ESL (MEDU) • Literacy and Basic Skills (MTCU) • Delivering Agencies • School boards (K-12 and Continuing Education) • Community Organizations • Colleges and Universities • Private Institutions

7. How will we decide which language training program to take? • A Language Assessment Centre will assess our language skills and discuss our goals with us • A language training provider can help us • A settlement agency can help us determine our goals • Our friends may know about language training • We can visit www.settlement.org, www.cic.gc.ca , and www.ontarioimmigration.ca/adultlanguagetraining

8. Supports for Language Training Programs • Professional Development for teachers and assessors • Canadian Language Benchmarks • LINC 1-7 Curriculum Guidelines • Teaching resources: print, listening tapes, and e-activities • A data tracking system • Child minding and transportation assistance • The TESL conference!

9. We Need Help Finding Employment.Who can help us? We can have our credentials assessed We can take a Job Search Workshop at one of 62 locations Our Enhanced Language Training will have work placement, mentoring, or networking Our Bridge to Work Training may have preparation for licensure We can take Language Training in the Workplace so that we can improve our opportunities for advancement

10. Our Pathway to IntegrationProgramming along the Settlement and Integration Continuum Short-Term Intermediate Long-term • Basic Orientation • Using Services • Canadian culture • Language Training • Literacy • LINC/CLIC Levels 1-7 • Occupation Specific • Enhanced Language • Training (CLNA) • Provincial programming • ESL and FSL • Employment • Resume Writing • Job Search • Job in Related Field • Job Search Workshops • Political Participation • & Civic Engagement • Citizenship • Voting • Volunteering

11. Future CIC Language Skills Policy Directions • Using CLB Levels instead of LINC levels • A Modernized Approach to Settlement Programming • Enhanced Assessment System • Coordinated Language Assessment, Referral, and Training

12. The Modernized Approach • Outcomes - The modernized approach is an outcome based approach, which is designed to support newcomers by providing: • language training so they have the language/skills to function in Canada; • the information they need to better understand life in Canada and make informed decisions about their settlement experience; • the required assistance to find employment commensurate with their skills and education; and • help to establish networks and contacts so they are engaged and feel welcomed in their communities • Needs Assessment – Newcomers will be assessed to determine services required to meet their needs. Needs assessment is to begin as early as possible, optimally overseas. • Planning - All activities will be harmonized through improved coordination and collaboration among the range of partners. • Communities develop and implement strategic settlement plans, offering services that respond to identified needs and regional issues. All stakeholders are involved in planning and carrying out settlement programming. Best practices shared. • Performance measurement - Results in terms of outcomes, outputs, and financial resources will be gathered and monitored to ensure activities continue to achieved expected results and link services to specific settlement outcomes.

13. From a Suite of Programs to Single Program with a Suite of Activities to Achieve Outcomes

14. Vision for a Two-part Assessment System Part 1: Progress Assessment Language Portfolios • Purposes • Measuring program performance • Motivating and empowering students • Contributing to a standard curriculum • Supporting professionalization of teachers • Description • Teachers and students work together to set goals and compile evidence of student progress • Rooted in the Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000 and based on Manitoba’s Collaborative Language Portfolio Assessment (CLPA) model • Results facilitate promotion of students from one training level to the next • Unlike a language test, a portfolio approach enables CIC to capture a student’s increasing grasp of LINC’s non-language content (Canadian civics, values, job search skills, etc.) • Language Portfolios to be used in CLB 1-4

15. Part 2: Outcomes Assessment CLB-Based Language Milestone Test Purposes • Providing reliable data to support outcomes analysis • Motivating students • Over time, providing proof of language proficiency required for employment, post-secondary study • Description • Standardized, made-in-Canada test based on the CLB • Test-takers may not be limited to LINC students • Ultimately, language credential intended to facilitate the flow of newcomers into education/training and the labour market by providing a recognized, portable credential • A test for this purpose need not assess all levels of proficiency, nor do stakeholders require a wide variety of “language credentials” • Provisionally, milestones have been set at CLB 4 and 8.

16. Vision for a Two-Part Assessment System CLB Levels 1 2 3 5 6 7 4 8 * SAM TASKS Portfolio EXIT TASKS Existing Assessment Tools CLB-Based Language Milestones Test * * *Portfolio use for CLB 1-4, with the intent to cover settlement themes found in the LINC Curriculum, and to include SAM (Summative Assessment Manual). Exit Tasks will continue to be used for CLB 5-7. * CLB-Based Language Milestone Test to be delivered at CLB 4 and 8 .

17. Coordinated Language Assessment and Referral System • Strategy 2 of COIA Strategic Plan: • Language assessment and training system: Build on existing services to develop and implement a comprehensive language assessment, referral and training system that assists newcomers to become competent in English or French as quickly as possible. • An advisory committee has been created by the two COIA government partners (CIC and MCI) to advise on implementation of the new CLARS. • Provides advice to the government partners on the development of the overview, protocols, and standards for a coordinated language assessment and referral system in Ontario. • Consultations for input are being scheduled throughout Ontario • Decisions on the implementation of CLARS will be made by CIC and MCI

18. Benefits of CLARS • Consistency: Newcomers across Ontario will be assessed in the same way using common standardized tools and practices. • Increased access to language assessment (greater assessment capacity, convenient locations, better access) • Better promotion and outreach: Increased knowledge of training programs both provincial and federal • Newcomers, employers, and the community have increased understanding of language skill levels • Coordinating federal and provincial language programs will assist newcomers navigate the settlement pathway.