ELP Assessment Update September 3, 2021
Kindergarten Materials
OSPI ordered Kindergarten screener materials for districts and those materials should be in district this week. If you have not received your materials, OSPI can share tracking information with you. Please email ELPassessments@k12.wa.us for information.
If you have received your materials and you need additional materials, please email ELPassessments@k12.wa.us to request the additional materials you need. Please specify if you need additional TA materials (cards, storybook, etc.), consumables (student response, scoring pages), or kits that include both and how many of each.
If you did not receive materials, please let us know the materials you need.
Grades 1-3 writing booklets.
OSPI attempted to order writing booklets for the Grades 1-3 WIDA Online Screeners. However, we were unable to secure booklets. Districts can download and print them as needed from the WIDA Secure Portal. Districts may also project the items in the booklet for a small group to see while students write their responses on traditional lined paper. Either way, the materials used are secure and must be handled according to your district’s secure materials policy.
OSPI has developed an FAQ document for screener questions. That document can be found on the ELP Screeners page of the OSPI website. The FAQ will be updated as we often as we can with new questions and answers. There is also a new Quick Start Guide available on the same page.
The new WIDA Secure Portal is now live. If you have any difficulty accessing what you need, please contact help@wida.us. TA trainings for the WIDA Screener are found under the Assessment Trainings tab. If you are a district leader, you will have a “manage” button in the top right of the page. This button will allow you to monitor/add users in your district.
The 2021-22 versions of WIDA assessment manuals and training courses are available in the portal, including the WIDA Test Administrator Essentials resource. The Test Administrator Essentials is a quick reference guide for test administrators to keep on hand during testing. It provides critical details around student grouping, scheduling, and domain-specific tips and reminders for TAs and students.
The WIDA Screener training and test preparation materials have changed in the new portal. With the launch of the redesigned portal:.
WIDA is offering the following webinars in September. You can access these webinars under the Webinars tab in the Secure Portal. Please note these webinars may not show up in your account before September 10. Topics include:
Technology Coordinators interested in attending technology-related webinars can find the 2021-22 Q&A Webinar Schedule for Technology Coordinators on WIDA AMS.
Districts are responsible for adding students to WIDA AMS for screener testing. Accounts with SC and DC permissions can add students for testing. If a student does not yet have an SSID, you can include the district identification number and then change it to the SSID when you have it.
We are currently working to adjust CEDARS so that the screener information can be uploaded more accurately. We understand the inconvenience this delay causes. Thank you for your patience as we get it sorted. Please hold onto your screener scores in the meantime and we will let you know when it is time to upload them.
All WIDA screener tests requires some level of local scoring. We understand that this is new and there is a learning curve as we make this transition. We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of student scores and we trust that your training will provide you with the skills to accurately assess student performance. At this time, OSPI will not considering requests for re-opening student tests because of a TA’s desire to rescore a domain or concern that the initial scores was too low or too high.
If you have concerns that a student’s skills may not be represented in the test scores, please consider other local assessment options that can help you determine the best placement for students and contact the Bilingual Education Office for resources and support in how to best determine appropriate services.
We are offering Zoom meetings to answer your questions as we move through this transition. These meetings are casual with no agenda. Please bring your questions for OSPI or to get ideas and feedback from other districts.
Tuesday, September 7 at noon: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87995157770
Monday, September 13 at noon: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84795654015
It is a difficult time to be an educator, and I am grateful for the work you are doing and the grace you offer me as I work to support you through this transition. Thank you all for your dedication to making this a success. I am truly honored to work with you all.
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