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An update from Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
July 8, 2026
Important Dates
July 2: Access embargoed final student results in District and School Student Results (DSR/SSR) files in Secure Reports (excluding Reading MCA and Alt MCA)
Quick Links
The 2026-2027 Accessibility and Accommodations Manual is now available on the Resources/Recursos page of the WIDA website. This year’s updates include:
- Two new accommodations: Assistive Technology (AT) and Speech-to-Text (STT). These new accommodations apply to WIDA ACCESS Online and WIDA Screener Online.
- Updates for existing accommodations:
- Manual Control of Item Audio (MC) now applies only to WIDA ACCESS Paper, WIDA ACCESS Braille, and WIDA Screener Paper. Students taking WIDA ACCESS Online or WIDA Screener Online will continue to use the Play button and must manually select it to begin item audio.
- Large Print (LP) materials for WIDA Screener Paper and WIDA Screener for Kindergarten are now available through the WIDA Store. The LP accommodation section of the manual has been updated to include these assessments.
WIDA Accommodations Checklists have also been updated for 2026-2027 and are available on the Resources/Recursos page of the WIDA website. These checklists can be used to track the accommodations a student receives for WIDA ACCESS and WIDA Screener.
A summary of all accessibility updates is available in the “WIDA Screener and WIDA ACCESS Get Accessibility Updates for 2026-2027” article on the WIDA website.
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The Division of Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment met with the District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) Input Group (DIG) on Monday, June 29. DIG was convened in response to a recommendation made at the June 12 Local Assessment Advisory Committee (LAAC) to provide MDE with DAC feedback on the transition to LaunchPad and ADAM, the new Pearson platforms.
For more information about our advisory groups, or to apply to serve on a committee, refer to the Statewide Assessment Advisory Groups Overview and the Statewide Assessment Advisory Group Application, which are posted under the Opportunities for Participation expandable header on the Statewide Testing page of the MDE website.
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Upcoming WIDA Assessment Webinars
WIDA and DRC will host the following assessment webinars in July and August:
- WIDA Alternate Screener, Tuesday, July 14, 1-2 p.m.
- WIDA Screener for Kindergarten, Tuesday, July 28, 1-2 p.m.
- WIDA Screener Online and Paper, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1-2 p.m.
More information, including webinar links, is available on the Webinars page in the WIDA Secure Portal. Recordings of WIDA assessment webinars are typically posted in the Secure Portal within one week of the live session.
Student Privacy Webinars
In July, the U.S. Department of Education Student Privacy Policy Office, through its Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), will present the following webinar:
- July 29, 2-3 p.m.: Back-to-School Privacy Bootcamp: FERPA & PPRA Essentials. This back-to-school webinar will support schools and educational agencies in their efforts to train their staff and meet their obligations under FERPA and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), covering topics such as the Annual Notification of FERPA Rights, notification of Directory Information policies, and data security best practices.
The Summer National Webinar Series will take place Aug. 12, 19, and 26 with sessions on FERPA basics, data security, and more. Watch for registration links in a future newsletter or check https://studentprivacy.ed.gov.
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Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
Minnesota Department of Education
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