Question of the Week
Q: When will the new Alternate Assessment Targets for the Science Kentucky Academic Standards be released?
A: The new Alternate Assessment Targets for the Science Kentucky Academic Standards are now available. This school year brings an exciting update in Kentucky's assessment landscape with the introduction of new alternate assessment science targets designed to better align with the most current educational expectations. These targets aim to enhance the assessment process for students in the alternate assessment program, ensuring that science education is more tailored to their unique learning needs.
These newly established science targets will be used for field test items during the 2024-2025 assessment cycle. Field testing is a critical process that allows the gathering of data on how well these new test items function in real-world testing scenarios, making sure they accurately reflect students' abilities and knowledge. The results from these field tests will not affect student scores but will help refine future assessments.
Important Note: While the new science alternate assessment targets will be incorporated into field test items, the current science alternate assessment targets will still be used for actual test items this year. The current science alternate assessment targets are available on the Kentucky Academic Standards – Alternate KSA webpage. This ensures continuity in the assessment process and guarantees that students are evaluated based on familiar criteria. Schools and educators should continue to prepare their students using both the established science alternate assessment targets and the new science alternate assessment targets.
New Science Alternate Assessment Targets:
Science Grade 4
Science Grade 7
Science Grade 11
For any questions or concerns, please contact Krista Mullins.
Additional Guidance on New Reporting Requirements Under House Bill 6
House Bill 6 (2024) established new reporting requirements for school districts. The bill requires each local board of education and each school to prominently display information about their students’ most recent performance on the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA).
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has previously provided spreadsheets that included 2022-2023 student performance data for schools and districts to post by Aug. 1. This allowed timely compliance with the bill and provided an opportunity for districts to format websites in advance of the public release of 2023-2024 student performance data.
Based on an initial review of school and district websites, KDE suggests district staff make the following checks and corrections if needed:
- Check the district website and every school website to verify that the required student performance percentages have been posted. Some have not.
- Verify that links to detailed results direct viewers to the correct location (School Report Card page for 2022-2023 data).
- Confirm that websites include the student performance data by level (as presented in the spreadsheets provided to district assessment coordinators by KDE).
- Each level (elementary/middle/high) must be displayed individually. For example, the website for a district with all levels should include a Proficient in Reading percentage for the elementary level, a Proficient in Reading percentage for the middle school level, and a Proficient in Reading percentage for the high school level.
Combining percentages from all levels into a single Proficient in Reading percentage for the district is not technically appropriate for Kentucky’s current level-based system.
Ensuring that formatting is correct for the 2022-2023 data will allow for quick, accurate updates when 2023-2024 data is released.
ACT Fall 2024 Optional Senior State Administration – Materials Arriving Soon
Test materials to support activities related to the ACT Fall 2024 Optional Senior State Administration, including the materials needed to conduct the non-test activities in MyACT, will arrive in schools the week of Sept. 9 or 16, depending on the material receipt week chosen in PearsonAccessnext (PAN). Testing staff can monitor the status of inbound material shipments in PAN (see the View Status and Shipment Information section of the PAN User Guide for more information). After materials are delivered, be sure to follow the steps to inventory (check-in) the box(es) within 24 hours of receipt (see the ACT Test Coordinator Information Manual on page 27 for more information about Receiving Materials before Testing).
Please be aware that for this fall, all secure and non-secure materials will arrive together instead of separately, as in past years. Also, the personalized Non-Test Instructions for Students will arrive in the non-secure shipment. Students should complete the non-test information in their MyACT accounts before testing.
Please Note: Students can still test if they have not completed this task; however, Step 4 of the ACT-hosted testing website contains helpful resources about completing the non-test activity in MyACT.
If you have any questions, please contact Christen Roseberry.
ACT State Testing Office Hour - Sept. 12, 2024
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) and ACT will host an office hour session on Sept. 12 at 1 p.m. ET, which will focus on the Online Technical Readiness and Non-Test Activity tasks. The session will be hosted via a Microsoft Teams meeting. While the content will be focused on highlighting those activities, KDE and ACT encourage testing staff to attend and ask any questions they may have at this time. Please be sure to provide testing staff with this Microsoft Teams Link for the session. Attendees will not have to register for office hours specifically but will want to mark time on calendars to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
If you have any questions, please contact Christen Roseberry.
K Screen Office Hours
The Office of Assessment and Accountability and Curriculum Associates are excited to announce our upcoming office hours scheduled for Sept. 13 and Sept. 30. These sessions are designed to provide you with personalized support and the opportunity to ask any questions you might have about the K Screen process. Whether you are a seasoned coordinator or new to your role, we encourage you to take advantage of this resource.
September 13:
Time: 2 – 3 p.m. ET Join the Zoom Meeting
September 30:
Time: 2 – 3 p.m. ET Join the Zoom Meeting
During these sessions, OAA and Curriculum Associates will be available to discuss any concerns, provide guidance to common questions and ensure you are fully prepared for the upcoming tasks. Feel free to bring any questions or topics you’d like to cover.
For questions, please contact Ben Riley.
WIDA Alternate ACCESS Score Report Resources
Find everything district and school staff need to know about 2023-2024 Alternate ACCESS score report resources in the This just in: 23-24 Alternate ACCESS score report resources available news article. The article also covers what to consider as district and school staff review reports and what happened at the Alternate ACCESS Standard Setting Study event.
For questions about WIDA Alternate ACCESS Score Report Resources, please contact WIDA.
Participate in ACCESS for ELLs Writing Tryouts
WIDA and the test development partners at the Center for Applied Linguistics are looking for educators to participate in the next round of ACCESS for ELLs Writing tryouts, which will take place Dec. 9-20. This is a chance for educators and students to be a part of the test development process and give students an opportunity to practice completing ACCESS Writing tasks.
- Activity format: Virtual
- Anticipated time commitment: 6-8 hours
- Participants: Teachers who work with English Learners in grades 1-12 at all proficiency levels and ELs in grades 1-12 at all proficiency levels (including ELs who have recently exited from EL services). Written parental consent is required.
For more details, please review WIDA's informational flyer. To apply, complete the participation survey by Friday, Sept.20. For questions about Writing Tryouts, please contact Leah Cave.
Featured Resources: WIDA PreK-3 Resources and Professional Learning
Take advantage of WIDA’s PreK-3 focused resources and professional learning opportunities for the new school year.
- The Teaching in PreK-3 webpage includes Are We Ready? videos and supporting resources that give an overview of how districts, programs, schools and staff can promote equitable transitions for multilingual children and families when moving through PreK-3.
- WIDA has two self-paced workshop offerings for educators of multilingual learners in grades PreK-3. These workshops are available via the WIDA Secure Portal for educators to participate in WIDA’s Self-Paced Workshop package.
Let’s Play! Multilingual Children’s Joyful Learning in PreK-3 explores the role of play for multilingual children and how it contributes to multilingual children’s language development and learning.
Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions gives PreK-3 educators an introduction to the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions provides an opportunity to build their knowledge and understanding of the Essential Actions, and reflect on their own ideologies, practices and settings.
Learn more and get started on the Self-Paced Workshops page.
New WIDA 2024-2025 Self-Paced Workshops Now Available
District and School Staff with an active WIDA Secure Portal account have access to the following Self-Paced Workshops:
- Engaging Multilingual Learners in Science: Making Sense of Phenomena
- Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions
- Let's Play! Multilingual Children's Joyful Learning in PreK-3 NEW
- Making Language Visible in the Classroom
- Newcomers: Promoting Success Through Strengthening Practice
- Reading Comprehension Across Content Areas with Multilingual Learners NEW
- Reframing Education of Long-Term English Learners
- Teaching Multilingual Learners Social Studies Through Multiple Perspectives UPDATED
- WIDA ELD Standards Framework: A Collaborative Approach
- WIDA Español: Desarollando el español: Las expectativas del lenguaje NEW
- WIDA Español: Evaluaciones del desarrollo del lenguaje a nivel de salón - Classroom assessment for language development NEW
Learn more on the Self-Paced Workshops webpage, where staff can find course descriptions, a promotional flyer, and PowerPoint slides to help spread the word to colleagues. So, when district and school staff are ready, grab your laptop and take advantage of free high-quality professional learning with WIDA Self-Paced Workshops through Aug. 31, 2025.
Ready to get started:
- Log in to the individual WIDA Secure Portal account on the WIDA Website. Don’t have an account yet? Visit Kentucky's member/state page to learn how.
- Go to the " Professional Learning" in the WIDA Secure Portal to view available virtual workshops. Locate the course and click on Course Details. Then, click Enroll Now.
- Complete a virtual self-paced workshop, print the certificate, and give a copy to the District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) for Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) credit.
For questions about the Self-Paced Workshops please contact WIDA via email or by phone at (866) 276-7735.
Reminder: Kindergarten ACCESS Field Test 2025 Recruitment is Open
In case district and school staff missed it, the recruitment window for the Kindergarten ACCESS Field Test 2025 is officially open! Field test participation is voluntary: WIDA needs 2,000 ELs in kindergarten and 2,000 ELs in first grade to participate.
For more information on the Kindergarten ACCESS Field Test,, please visit the Redesigned Kindergarten ACCESS is Coming in 2025-2026 webpage, and for the schools to participate, please fill out the field test participation survey.
For questions, please contact Chris Williams.
Reminder: Upcoming WIDA Assessment Webinars
Please join WIDA and Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) to learn about the following topics:
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Welcome Back: What’s New in 2024? Tuesday, Sept. 10, from 1-2 p.m. CT
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ACCESS for New Test Administrators Thursday, Sept. 12, from 1-2 p.m. CT
Learn more and add these upcoming webinars to the calendar on the Webinars page (login required).
Can’t make it? The recordings for Assessment Webinars are posted to the WIDA Secure Portal on the Webinars page within a week of the presentation.
For questions, please contact Chris Williams.
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