The development of refined and validated Language Australia ESL Bandscales for improved assessment, reporting and outcomes of English-as-a-second-language learners in schools. One in four school students (migrant-background and indigenous) are non-English speaking background, many speaking English-as-a-second-language or dialect (ESL/ESD). Since many are 'at risk' according to Literacy Benchmarks testing, optimal ESL-informed teaching, reporting and assessment is needed. The ESL Bandscales, wid ....The development of refined and validated Language Australia ESL Bandscales for improved assessment, reporting and outcomes of English-as-a-second-language learners in schools. One in four school students (migrant-background and indigenous) are non-English speaking background, many speaking English-as-a-second-language or dialect (ESL/ESD). Since many are 'at risk' according to Literacy Benchmarks testing, optimal ESL-informed teaching, reporting and assessment is needed. The ESL Bandscales, widely used for 8 years, will be empirically validated using quantitative (Rasch modeling) and qualitative techniques to provide a more trustworthy teaching/reporting map. A team of researchers, including 3 APAIs, will draw on and improve understandings and assessment of Industry Partner teachers of migrant-background and indigenous learners, resulting in a new map(s) of ESL/ESD learning, published as ESL Bandscales II.Read moreRead less