Brittney Bouc, Educational Programs Consultant at the California Department of Education, is an Alumni Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State English Language Fellow Program. Bouc was a Fellow in Egypt and Turkey, 2011-2012. Today, she coordinates and supports the development and administration of the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). Bouc states, “making the professional leap from ESL teacher to test developer was made possible by my English Language Fellowship experience.”
As a Fellow in Cairo, Egypt, Bouc worked at the English Language Resource Center at Al-Azhar University. She taught academic English courses, supervised teachers and provided administrative support to the Center. “One of the most challenging tasks we had was to design and produce valid exit exams for the school,” she reflects. “English Language Fellows and local Egyptian teachers worked in teams to research alignment and assessment. Our resources and experience were scarce, but we managed to present a workable first draft of the assigned exit exams. We also learned that creating a valid assessment is more difficult than it looks!”
Bouc notes that as a Fellow, she had no idea how important her work with developing assessments would be for her career. “In my interview for this position, I shared a story from my fellowship which demonstrated a familiarity with alignment and assessment, and the ability to learn quickly and work in teams,” Bouc explains.
Bouc’s experiences broadened her ability to express informed observations about life in modern Cairo. This has translated to a deeper awareness when working with immigrants and refugees in her own community in the United States. Through her work as an ESL instructor at a community college in Sacramento, she was able to better relate with and connect to the experiences of students from distressed regions. “My experience as a Fellow gave me insight and empathy which has made me a better educator and community member.”
Brittney Bouc was an English Language Fellow in Egypt and Turkey, 2011-2012. She has worked in the TESOL field for over 10 years, teaching, training teachers, and designing online learning content. Today she is an Educational Programs Consultant at the California Department of Education who coordinates and supports the development and administration of the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC).