1. 1 Hall County School System 2011 ACCESS Tier Placement Guidance October 2010

2. 2 Purpose of ACCESS Tiers ACCESS for ELLs uses Tiers A, B, or C to maximize accuracy and validity of test results, allowing students to avoid responding to questions that are inappropriately difficult or easy. W-APT or ACCESS scores should be used to assist with tier placement.

3. 3 Tier Placement Considerations TIER A is most appropriate for English language learners who: Have arrived in the U.S. or entered school in the U.S. within this academic school year without previous instruction in English, OR Currently receive literacy instruction ONLY in their native language, OR Have recently tested at the lowest level of English language proficiency.

4. 4 Tier Placement Considerations TIER B is most appropriate for English language learners who: Have social language proficiency and some, but not extensive, academic language proficiency in English, OR Have acquired some literacy in English, though have not yet reached grade level literacy.

5. 5 Tier Placement Considerations TIER C is most appropriate for English language learners who: Are approaching grade level in literacy and academic language proficiency in the core content areas, OR will likely meet the state’s exit criteria for support services by the end of the academic year. Note: In order to be considered for exiting ESOL/language service eligibility, students must take a Tier C test and reach a minimum composite score of 4.0.

6. 6 WIDA Consortium / CAL / MetriTech Test Alignment with Proficiency Levels ENTERINGBEGINNINGDEVELOPINGEXPANDINGBRIDGING 12345 Annual ACCESS for ELLs ® Tier A Tier B Tier C W-APT™ 6 ATTAINING

7. 7 ACCESS Proficiency Level Ranges Students’ composite scores are within these ranges: Tier A (1.0 - 4.0) Tier B (1.0 - 5.0) Tier C (1.0 - 6.0)

8. 8 Obtaining Helpful Information Review individual student 2010 ACCESS scores from Student Roster Reports. For current 6 th and 9 th graders, individual students’ scores can be pulled from ACCESS Teacher Report in permanent records, ESOL Blue Portfolios, or on Infinite Campus.

9. 9 Other Points to Consider Based on 2010 student scores (W-APT or ACCESS), consider the following to determine the appropriate ACCESS tier: a) ACCESS Tier A scores are capped. Students cannot receive a Composite Language Proficiency Level above 4.0 for Tier A. We do not want to hold students back if you think they might be able to pass the 4.0 cap. b) Individual student’s language growth from February 2010 ACCESS scores to present. CRCT, ITBS, DRA and current academic performance are additional indicators that demonstrate language growth since February 2010 ACCESS testing.

10. 10 Additional Guidance for Tier Placement If there is any chance student might make 4.0, administer Tier C. Any student with 4.0 last year (even if on Tier B) should take Tier C test. Any student with passing (or close to passing) CRCT Reading score last year should take Tier C. Elementary- Consider DRA Accuracy and Comprehension scores when making Tier placement decisions