The WIDA Screener
The WIDA Screener will be available in early August for all grade levels. Students who are newly enrolling and those who continue to hold provisional EL status will need to be screened in the beginning of the 2021 school year.
WIDA Screener Trainings
As we shift our ELP assessments to WIDA, Test Administrator (TA) trainings will be located on the WIDA Secure Portal. District Assessment Coordinators (DACs) will manage access to these trainings for their districts and will initiate the creation of TA accounts with WIDA (or locally if preferred). DACs will control Secure Portal permissions for local accounts including access to Screener trainings. DACs will also have the authority to assign these trainings for their local TAs. As most DACs are also new to the WIDA platform, we encourage you to allow them a little time to familiarize themselves with the materials prior to reaching out.
TAs will need to complete training for the grade band assessments that they will be administering. If TAs are administering tests at all grade levels, they will need to complete trainings for K, 2-3, 6-8, and 9-12 screener trainings. TAs will need to complete training for the screener annually. Training on the WIDA Secure Portal is tied to the 2020-21 school year until June 30. Trainings for the 2021-22 school year will begin on July 1. For this reason, we are suggesting you should wait until July 1 to begin training.
WIDA Screener Scoring
WIDA Screener has portions that are locally scored at all grade bands. Training for scoring is part of the training modules available at all grade bands in the Secure Portal. Scoring training must be completed and quizzes passed as part of the training for TAs each year.
WIDA Screener Materials
OSPI is working with WIDA to develop a process for ordering screener materials. Additional guidance on ordering materials will be provide when available.
Several districts have reached out about the data in the Tableau Server, and we are aware that the data available may be incongruent with district-level data. Please know that we are working hard to resolve the issue but that some elements were impacted by the pandemic. We will be taking the following steps to mitigate any further problems this could arise.
- We are adding a disclaimer to form packages 231, 232, and 219 (Title 3 and TBIP grants) to discourage the use of aggregated data for purposes outside of the grant application. Data should be validated prior to using it to draw conclusions about program progress or needs.
- Districts are advised to use the data as it is presented in the Tableau Server under the protection of the disclaimer we are adding to the application. Where data is missing, districts should write in the words “Data not available.”
- Please do not leave the data table in form packages 231, 232, or 219 (Title 3 and TBIP grants) incomplete. The US Department of Education (USDE) has not waived the ESSA required reporting elements for this school year. Districts and state agencies must still remain in compliance. OSPI is reaching out to USDE for further guidance on what to do when data elements are missing, and we will communicate any additional guidance as it is shared.
- Please reach out to your Bilingual Education Program Supervisor if you or your colleagues have any issues interpreting these data. We are ready to support you with an explanation of the events that complicated this aspect of federal reporting and grant applications.
Shannon Martin – Supporting districts Aberdeen – Issaquah | Bilingual Education Program Supervisor | 360-725-4476
Sue Connolly – Supporting districts Kalama – Pullman | Bilingual Education Program Interim Director | 360-522-0001
Amy Ingram – Supporting districts Puyallup – Zillah | Bilingual Education Program Supervisor | 360-764-6201
Patty Finnegan, Ph.D. – Dual language education support for all districts. | Assistant Director of Dual Language | 360-725-4468
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