Discussion of W-APT, ACCESS Testing, Adequate Yearly Progress and Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives

W-APT – The WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test is given to all new students to US Schools. It determines if a student qualifies for services with an ESL Teacher. ACCESS – Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State. This test is given in February/March to assess English Language Acquisition in ELL’s and to determine accommodations for state testing. Students’ scores on this test also determine if a student is ready to exit ESL services. ESL Teachers’ main job: Teaching students English

The majority of funding for our ESL teachers and program comes from state funds. This is based on our number of LEP students (students qualifying for services). The next largest amount comes from local funds. The smallest about comes from Federal Funds called Title III. Without help from our local county commissioners, we would be able to barely cover two teachers, and there would be no money for staff development, materials, equipment, translations, etc.

Federal Grants require accountability AMAO’s (Annual Measureable Achievement Objectives) are the way Title III and NCLB get accountability from school systems. Failure to meet any AMAO two years in a row puts a school district in Title III Improvement. WCS has failed to meet AMAO #2 two years in a row and also missed AMAO #3 this year. WCS is in Title III Improvement. Monitoring visit is March 22-23, 2011.

AMAO #1 (Progress):This criterion for progress is determined for each LEP student by an increase in English language proficiency in at least one of the four assessed language domains (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) on the ACCESS test. Watauga County met AMAO #1 with 86.3% of our LEP students showing an increase in at least one of the four language domains.

AMAO #2 (Proficiency): The % of LEP students who show proficiency on the ACCESS test and Exit LEP status. (Proficiency= Score of 4.8 overall; 4.0 on Reading; 4.0 on Writing. Target for was 11.8%. WCS achieved 10.6% of students exiting LEP status. 76% of North Carolina School Systems met this target was our 2 nd consecutive year to fail to meet AMAO #2.

AMAO #3 (AYP for the LEP Subgroup): per federal regulations, the AYP subgroup of LEP students and MFLEP (Monitored Former LEP) students must meet proficiency on four sub-targets (two subject areas and two grade spans). Performance on each sub-target is shown by functioning on two goals: Proficiency and 95% participation.

AMAO #3 consists of evaluations (Met, Not Met/Insufficient data) using AYP in Reading, Grades 3-8 and High School; AYP in Math, Grades 3-8 and High School). WCS did not meet proficiency for the LEP subgroup in grades 3-8 math. Therefore, WCS did not meet AMAO #3. 64% of LEA’s in NC made AMAO# 3.

A large percentage of WCS students missed exiting LEP status based on their WRITING ACCESS score. This school year, ESL teachers are reading When English Language Learners Write and are using new strategies to help our students build this skill, often the last to be attained by an ELL. Hardin Park’s ELL’s did not make AYP in Math, so our SIOP trainer is working with grade level teams to learn new strategies for reaching ELL’s in math.

At a DPI ESL Data Retreat in November and early December, a team from WCS spent time disaggregating our school district’s ESL data. We found several strengths in our system: SIOP training for general education teachers Spanish classes for staff Focus on culture of our Hispanic population Parent support groups Collaboration among staff within school Local Funding Communication with parents in Spanish (Translations/Interpreters)

There were also some areas we saw improvement was needed: Understaffed – Need another teacher or teacher assistant Need to branch out to other cultures in addition to Hispanics Reluctance for parents to get involved – how to engage them Parents’ lack of education or knowledge in how to help children Need for ESL teachers to communicate more with teachers about: ACCESS Scores and Can-Do statements AMAO’s and areas of improvement needed student by student. Vocabulary of math, reading, writing, social studies, science to help integrate with what goes on in regular classroom. What Does this Mean for US?

Two consultants from DPI will come to view our documentation, ask questions of administrators and school staff members, and to visit schools and classrooms. Questions they may ask general education teachers: How do you incorporate the WIDA Standards into your instruction? What kind of professional development is provided to you by your school, central office, etc. Is it for content teachers, too? How are you made aware of the resources and professional development opportunities from LEARN NC, Carolina TESOL, Worldview, and other associations? How are you notified about your district’s AMAO’s? If you need to contact a parent of an LEP child, how do you go about that?

Be able to speak about the support you give your ELL’s, the training you have had, what you would like to see done to improve our ESL program. Support your ESL teacher as the visit approaches. Meetings will probably need to be held with small groups as you prepare. Concentrate on helping students gain proficiency in writing and math – math was missed on EOG’s, and writing on ACCESS testing.

Often ESL teachers are being asked too often to help with student classroom assignments or projects instead of their main role: teaching English proficiency. There must be time in the schedule for the ESL teacher to talk with other teachers of these children regularly to collaborate on the instruction students need. Specific data on each ELL student needs to be shared with teachers. Do you know how your ELL students did on each component of the ACCESS test? Is growth evident in your students in Reading and Math based on data?

WIDA Standards, Can-Do statements, and other resources for learning more about WIDA: North Carolina’s source for all things ESL: SIOP Training Notebooks WCS SIOP Trainers: Gail Ford, Jack Hellenbrand, Billie Hicklin, Cogie Reed, Tracey Saunders, Lucia Valencia LEP Coordinator for WCS: Billie Hicklin LEP Data Manager for WCS: Angela Hampton QUESTIONS?