The Spring 2019 WY-ALT Training Registration site is now open and will close Thursday, January 3, 2019. No additional requests for registration will be taken after registration closes. 

This year, all Spring 2019 Alternate Assessment Test Administrators (TA-ALTs) must attend an in-person WY-ALT training, even if you administered the WY-ALT in 2018.

Training Locations and Dates:

• Monday, January 7, in Powell, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Monday, January 7, in Powell, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, January 9, in Gillette, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, January 9, in Gillette, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday, January 10, in Casper, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Thursday, January 10, in Casper, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Friday, January 11, in Rock Springs, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Friday, January 11, in Rock Springs, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, January 22, in Cheyenne, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

You must attend an in-person training to administer the test. Sign-in sheets from trainings will be used to ensure all attendees are granted the proper access to the Test Delivery System during the testing window.

In addition, all Spring 2019 TA-ALTs must take the online TA Certification Course, available via the Wyoming Assessment Portal. Completing the course will flag your TIDE account as “TA Certified.”

If you have questions, please contact the Wyoming Help Desk at wyohelpdesk@air.org. You will receive a reply within 24 hours regarding your inquiries.

The Wyoming Alternate Assessment for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities (WY-ALT) is aligned to the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards Extensions (WyCPS) and designed to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an appropriately rigorous assessment. All information about the WY-ALT is available on the WY-ALT Portal.

The assessment blueprint is a detailed outline that explains the knowledge and skills that are tested on the assessment. Please see the updated WY-ALT blueprints below.

WY-ALT ELA blueprint
WY-ALT Math blueprint
WY-ALT Science blueprint

Modular and Interim assessment items are semi-secure, non-public. The items are semi-secure because the security of materials and the ethics of personnel administering is of paramount importance. These items are non-public because items should not be printed, sent home, duplicated in any media or printed source, or projected. It is incumbent upon schools and TAs to keep items secure in order to ensure validity and reliability of the items for future administrations of the assessments. Please view this acceptable use document for WY-TOPP modular and interim items. 

Final Week to correct the October WDE684 data 

This data collection provides WDE information for accountability, and defines the number of students in subpopulations. Please fix any data errors by next Friday, November 9th.  It is important to have the correct data in order to correctly identify Active ELs and determine Monitor Status in each school and district. If you have any questions or issues, please contact Antoinette.Hallam@wyo.gov (307)777-5217 or Brian.Wuerth@wyo.gov (307)777-6748.

Order Test Materials October 17- November 28.

If you are administering ACCESS for ELLs you must place a materials order, regardless of testing mode (online or paper). Please be advised that if you do not order tests for your school or district during this time frame, you WILL NOT receive any materials in the materials shipment. Pre-ID labels will be included in the initial materials shipment regardless of materials ordered.

View the Ordering Materials tutorial in the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs training course. You may access the training course on the WIDA Secure Portal by logging in at the top right corner of the homepage. Once you are logged in, you can select the appropriate training course.

All ACCESS for ELLs test materials will be ordered from DRC using WIDA AMS. Building Test Coordinators/District Test Coordinators will need to follow the test materials ordering procedures outlined in the WIDA Assessment Management System (WIDA AMS) User Guide which is located on WIDA AMS.  

HOW TO ORDER MATERIALS.     

1. Log in to WIDA AMS. 
2. Click Materials>Materials Ordering. 
3. Choose the administration WY ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 2018-2019.
4. Click Show Materials.

Important Note: There has been a change with DRC in shipping testing materials to District Coordinators versus school locations. For the 18-19 year, testing materials will continue to be sent to the same locations as in the 17-18 year. Changes will not occur until the 19-20 school year and districts will be notified well-in-advance to prepare for any possible changes.  

It is imperative that WIDA recruit sites for the essential Writing Test field test, particularly tier A and high school students, since we have not met our recruitment goals in the past. 

The field test window for grades 1-3 will be November 14,
2018 through February 15, 2019. The window for grades 4-12
will be December 3, 2018 through March 1, 2019. All students in grades 1-3 will hand write their responses, and those in 4-12 will keyboard. 

ACCESS will not pass peer review if they do not recruit a sufficient number of students. WIDA
states are held to the following USDOE Peer Review Guidance:
-Must provide evidence of appropriate field testing.
-Field test student sample must be representative of the “population” of final test takers (of adequate size and diversity). 

If you would like to participate, please contact Alex Bauer at 1-608- 265-0601 or email alex.bauer@wisc.edu.