ELP Assessment Update January 26, 2022

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 01/26/2022 03:42 PM PST

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English Language Proficiency Assessment Office

ELP Assessment Update [January 26, 2022]

Monday kicks of the start of our annual ELP assessment window. Thank you for your time and effort in making the assessment run as smoothly as possible. OSPI is here to support you as we move through the testing window.

Domain Exemptions on WIDA ACCESS tests.

In rare cases, a student’s disabilities may prohibit access to a domain of language. In these cases, an IEP team can determine that the student should be exempt from a specific domain of the test. For WIDA testing, the process to exempt a student will look something like this:

IEP team determines that a domain exemption is needed. (Note: the IEP team cannot exempt a student from all four domains).
“SPD” Do Not Score code is marked in WIDA AMS for the specific domain(s) that are exempted. This code should only be used if a student is exempt from a domain based on their IEP.
The domain test is ended incomplete by the DAC or district-level user. This permission in WIDA AMS should not be shared with school or TA level accounts.
If the exempted domain is listening or reading, the student’s test may default to Tier A for writing and speaking. For example, a student who is hard of hearing may be an excellent writer but assigned to Tier A as a result of a listening domain exemption. Districts can request a Manual Tier Override for a student, so the student can test at Tier B/C if appropriate. All Manual Tier Overrides must be approved by OSPI. If you need a tier override, please send an email to ELPAssessment@k12.wa.us with subject line “Manual Tier Override Request” and a brief explanation such as, “Student with SSID 12345 has a listening domain exemption and needs a manual tier override to access Tier B/C in speaking and writing.” Please also include the student’s school in the message. This message must come from the DAC or district-level coordinator.
Students who have one or two domain exemptions will not have an overall composite score on their individual student report, but overall composite scores can be calculated at the state level for students with domain exemptions. Overall composite scores cannot be calculated at the state for students who do not complete all four domains and do not have domain exemptions.

Speaking Domain: When testers refuse to speak

The student must record something to move on to the next question. The microphone will pick up a lot of sounds that are not related to the student’s response like the student breathing or clicking the mouse or the test administrator in the background. These sounds count as a recording and the student will be moved to the next item after finishing the recording.

If the student refuses to test, the test can be ended incomplete. If a test is Ended Incomplete from a Not Started Status, the student will not meet the attemptedness criteria and receive no score for the domain and no overall score. Something must be recorded on an operational (not practice) item in the test in order for it to be considered attempted.

If the student is speaking too softly or if there is a microphone issue, a pop up message will appear that says, “The recording didn’t work. You need to record your answer again. Check you microphone. Remember to speak clearly. Don’t whisper. Now click the OK button to try again.” If the problem persists, the following popup will appear saying, “The recording didn’t work again. Raise your hand. Wait for the teacher.” In this case, the student will be removed from the test and then they should troubleshoot the microphone or switch out the headset with the local IT. There are some microphone troubleshooting suggestions in the Technology Issue Report Form.

Testing Over Multiple Days

When scheduling tests, please schedule them so there is time for students to finish the domain they start. If a situation arises when a student will need to pause testing to resume on a different day, that is allowed. You do not need to notify the state of these situations nor do you need to mark the EM accommodation for these students. The remaining items on the test will be available to complete if it is paused (not submitted). Items the student responded to prior to pausing will not be available for the student to go back to and revise.

Bubbling paper booklets

When a student tests on paper, bubbling in the required information is how the test is reconnected with the student’s record in WIDA AMS. If a student’s booklet has a student-specific white label, then only the testing date must be bubbled in. The following areas on the booklet are required if the booklet has a yellow school/district label instead of a white student-specific label.

Front cover:

First name
Last name
Testing Date

Back cover:

School (name or code)
District (name or code)
Grade level
SSID

Kindergarten Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities.

Since WA began using the WIDA Alternate ACCESS to assess students eligible to take an alternate assessment, kindergarten student have taken the grade band 1-2 Alternate ACCESS assessment. This is still an option this year. As full members of WIDA, WA now also has the Kindergarten ACCESS test as an option for students in kindergarten. As with any grade level, IEP teams can decide which test is more appropriate for the student to take. The Alternate ACCESS for grades 1-2 or the Kindergarten ACCESS are both options for kindergarten students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

Additional Labels

Student-specific (white) labels cannot be ordered as part of the additional materials. However, you can order additional school/district (yellow) labels. Only the DAC can order these directly from DRC’ help desk (wida@datarecognitioncorp.com). The following information is required in the request for each building:

District Name:
District Code:
School Name:
School Code:
District Coordinator Name:
District Coordinator Email:
Shipping Address:
Number of label sheets needed (come in sheets of 10):

Assessment Security Resources

The PIRG and Assurance Forms are located on the WCAP Portal https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/.

Test Security Staff Assurance Form is located here: https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/resources/forms/test-security-staff-assurance-report

Professional Standards and Security, Incident, and Reporting Guidelines (PIRG) is located here: https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/resources/user-guides/pirg

Contact Us

If you have any questions or if OSPI can support you in the assessment process, please don't hesitate to reach out.

ELPAssessments@k12.wa.us (general questions, approving Manual Tier Overrides)

wida@datarecognitioncorp.com (technical issues, WIDA AMS, additional labels - DACs only)

leslie.huff@k12.wa.us (policy questions)

ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.

Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.

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