WDE is recruiting educators who are interested in working with colleagues in Wyoming to develop content-based performance level descriptors (PLDs) in reading/ELA, math, and science for the grade 11 ACT. These PLDs will describe the range of knowledge and skills for each of the performance levels (basic, proficient, and advanced) WDE reports on the ACT.  The one-day session, hosted by the WDE assessment and standards teams, will be facilitated by content experts from the ACT and participants will benefit from a deep-dive into specific ACT content.

Participants should have at least three years of experience teaching reading/ELA, math, or science in grades 9 -12+ and a working knowledge of the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards in these subjects.  WDE will provide a stipend of $300 to cover lodging, transportation, and meals.  The meeting will be held in Cheyenne on Tuesday, January 19th from 9:00 – 4:30.

WDE has created training sessions for everyone administering or second scoring the Wy-ALT assessment during the 2015-2016 testing window.

If you have not previously attended a Wy-ALT training session, and will be administering and/or second scoring the assessment this year, you will need to attend a full-day training session. 

There are three full-day (new to Wy-Alt) training sessions scheduled:

• January 11 - Buffalo
• January 12 - Casper
• January 15 - Rock Springs
• January 21 - Cheyenne

All full-day sessions begin at 9 AM and last until 4:30 PM. Registration begins at 8:30 AM. 

If you attended last year's full-day training, a half-day refresher course is available in lieu of the full-day this year. There will be 2 live sessions:

• January 13 - Casper (morning)
• January 13 - Casper (afternoon)

The morning session will begin at 9 AM; the afternoon session will being at 1 PM. WDE is also scheduling refresher webinars in lieu of the live sessions.

This survey should be completed by your District Technology Coordinator. The information provided will be used to determine your district’s technology readiness for the ACT Aspire administration in spring 2016.  Please complete and submit the survey by December 18.

ACT Aspire will contact the District Technology Coordinator within two weeks (using the information submitted in the survey) concerning any technology-related testing concerns. 

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Training Course - Preparing for Testing 

• The ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Training Course contains the Test Coordinator and Test Administrator checklists for all training materials and resources needed to prepare educators in these roles to administer ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 assessments. 

ACCESS 2.0 Log-ins Supported by two Different Organizations

• Personal Training Account for all ACCESS for ELLs test administration preparation (quizzes, checklists), support at WIDA Client Services Center at help@wida.us
• ACCESS for ELLs test ordering and ACCESS online administration tasks (entering students, printing out test tickets for test sessions, etc), support at Data Recognition Corporation at WIDA@datarecognitioncorp.com or 855-787-9615. 

WIDA is currently recruiting for the ACCESS 2.0 Writing Field Test. The window for the field test is set for January 4, 2016 - February 12, 2016. Tier B/C students in grades 1-12 who have completed their operational ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 through the computer-based delivery method are eligible to participate. Students in grades 1-3 who were administered the computer-based assessment are also eligible to participate and will hand-write their responses. If you would like to participate or have questions, please contact Alex Bauer at WIDA (alex.bauer@wisc.edu). 

WORD OF THE WEEK

Anchor Test

For equating the scores on two forms of a test that are taken by different groups of test takers, it is necessary to know how those groups differ in the ability measured by the test. An anchor test is a test given to both groups to obtain this information. The anchor test can be a set of test questions appearing on both forms (called "common items") or it can be a separate test taken by both groups.