WIDA ACCESS Assessment Update

OK State Dept of Ed sent this bulletin at 06/03/2020 03:13 PM CDT
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English Learners

EL Educators,

Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent period of school closure, many Oklahoma students were unable to begin or complete all domains of the 2019-2020 WIDA ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS assessment. To address this issue, WIDA will open a supplemental test window at the outset of the 2020-2021 school year to allow these students an opportunity to meet proficiency and exit EL status.

As this is a response to a unique situation, specific criteria apply to administration and participation within this test window:

  • WIDA ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS assessment will only be available for students enrolled in grades 1-12 for the 2019-2020 school year.
  • Only paper assessments will be provided, no online testing will be available.
  • For the ACCESS assessment, only Tier B/C tests will be provided.
  • All paper ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS assessments and secure test materials distributed for this supplemental test window will need to be returned to DRC no later than October 1, 2020.

Districts wishing to participate in this administration must provide OSDE an estimate of students eligible to participate, by grade cluster, no later than June 25, 2020 (see below for instructions).

The USDE Office of English Language Proficiency (OELP) has clearly stated that the ELP assessment used for reclassification must be the same assessment required under ESSA. In Oklahoma, this is either the WIDA ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS assessment. No other assessment (e.g., the WIDA Screener, WIDA MODEL, etc.) may be used to justify the reclassification of an English Learner. If a district wishes to provide an exit opportunity for a student that was unable to begin or complete their 2019-2020 ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS assessment, ensuring student participation in this supplemental make-up window is the only means to do so.

Additional notes:

  • As only the paper form of ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS will be administered, districts wishing to participate must ensure that staff have completed the requisite training to administer and score the paper ACCESS and/or Alternate ACCESS assessment.
  • Students that completed between one and three domains in the 2020 test window need only complete their missing domain(s) in this supplemental test widow. WIDA will then calculate a composite based on domain scores obtained from the two separate administrations.
  • Students that did not have the opportunity to begin their WIDA assessment in the 2020 test window would complete all four domains in the supplemental window.
  • Additional specifics regarding students participating in this supplemental test window will be required as WIDA moves forward with printing and distribution of assessments.
  • Additional specifics regarding ship dates for paper materials will be provided as they are made available by WIDA/DRC.
  • Additional specifics regarding score reporting for assessments completed in this supplemental test window will be provided as they are made available by WIDA/DRC.
  • This opportunity is intended only for those students that were expected to participate in the 2020 ACCESS but were unable to complete or begin their assessments due to COVID-19 and subsequent school closure, not to provide re-takes of previously completed domains or assessments.
  • District participation in this opportunity is voluntary.