ELP Assessment Update
Welcome back to school. The window for annual ELP testing is quickly approaching. The testing window for both the regular and alternate ELP assessments will be January 28 to March 22. Below is information that may be useful as you plan and test.
ELPA21 Annual Testing
The ELPA21 summative has no significant changes for this year’s administration. Materials will arrive in districts between January 14 and 17. The window to order additional materials will open on January 18. The TAM and GTSA are available on WCAP. Please review them as you prepare for testing. Checklists for Technology Directors, Test Coordinators, and Test Administrators are available on the ELP Assessment page.
Training
Training materials for the ELPA21 annual assessment have been provided to district assessment coordinators through the OSPI website. Districts are responsible for ensuring that all TAs are trained annually. Districts must maintain training records locally.
Secure Browser
Our testing vendor, AIR, launched a new version of the secure browser in December. To avoid frustration and delays during testing, please ensure that your testing computers have the new browser installed.
Average Testing Times
We have included on the Preparing for Testing page located at: http://k12.wa.us/ELPA21/Preparing.aspx, average testing times by domain for each grade or grade band. Please note that testing times only reflect the time from when a student logs in to when that student submits the test. Additional time should be added for directions and settling in.
Measuring Growth
The Report Card on OSPI’s website now shows EL progress towards proficiency. It is located within the School Improvement Framework. Students are only included in this data if they have two ELPA21 summative test results or if they tested out of services their first year. This link provides additional information about the growth measure. http://www.k12.wa.us/ESEA/ESSA/pubdocs/10WSIFEnglishLearnerProgress.pdf
Training
Training for the WIDA Alternate ACCESS is available through Moodle. All participants will need an access code to enter the training. Your DAC or designee can provide this access code. The training includes watching a recorded webinar, completing a quiz and registering via Survey Gizmo. All parts of the training are linked to the Moodle course. TAs are required to watch the video, successfully complete the training quiz, and register via the Survey Gizmo site, before administering a WIDA Alternate ACCESS test to any student.
The Moodle course can be accessed here: http://training.ospi.k12.wa.us/course/view.php?id=53
Lists of registered TAs will be available to DACs via WAMS. The list will be updated twice weekly through February and then as needed through the end of the testing window.
WIDA Non-Disclosure
In additional to training, TAs are required to sign the WIDA non-disclosure document. This document should be kept with other training documents at the local district. The non-disclosure document can be found on the Alternate ACCESS page. http://k12.wa.us/ELPA21/AlternateACCESS.aspx.
Blind Students
OSPI is working directly with the Washington State School for the Blind to adapt the WIDA Alternate ACCESS test for Blind ELs with significant cognitive disabilities. The adapted tests will not be in districts with other materials on January 14, but are expected to be ready and available around the end of the January. If you need one of these tests, please contact Leslie Huff, ELP Assessment Coordinator, at OSPI immediately to ensure enough materials are produced. Please also ensure that the student has a regular test booklet from WIDA (either through the WAMS Pre-ID process or, through the additional materials order process in WIDA AMS, located on the DRC platform).
Ordering Materials
The window to order additional materials from WIDA will open on January 14. If you did not pre-identify one or more students, District assessment coordinators can order materials through WIDA AMS on the DRC platform. When ordering, districts can only order materials specific to the WIDA Alternate ACCESS for ELLs assessment. These include: a student response booklet (1 per student) a Listening, Reading, Speaking Test booklet (1 per 4 students) and a Test Administrator Script (1 per 4 students). Please note that you may need to also order labels if your district did not receive enough in the initial order.
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