1. Introduction to the WIDA Consortium
© 2010 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium 1 1

2. The WIDA Consortium
Alaska
New Jersey
Alabama
New Mexico
Delaware
North Carolina
District of Columbia
North Dakota
Georgia
South Dakota
Hawaii
Oklahoma
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Kentucky
Rhode Island
Maine
Vermont
Maryland
Virginia
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Mississippi
Wyoming
Missouri
*Colorado, Utah-standards adoption
New Hampshire
The 27 WIDA states represent more than 840,000 English Language Learners.
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3. WIDA Central Office Primary Responsibilities Experience
Overall management of project
Professional development and research services for consortium states
Outreach and customer service
Experience
Founded in 2004
Consistent history of delivering valid and reliable assessment services for ELLs to 27 states
Nationally and internationally recognized for developing and disseminating innovative, research-based English Language Proficiency Standards
Located within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
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4. Academic Language
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5. Academic Language
WIDA’s philosophical and theoretical approach is that
Students must acquire academic and social English to be successful in U.S. schools
The acquisition of academic English must be integrated with the acquisition of academic content
Educators of ELLs must have the knowledge, skills, and tools to help students develop academic English
Educators must collaborate to most effectively meet all the educational needs of ELLs
Resources, tools, and approaches must be grounded in sound research
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6. Language and Content Knowledge
Language proficiency involves the language associated with the content areas.
Content knowledge reflects the declarative (what) and procedural knowledge (how) associated with the content.
WIDA ELP standards focus on academic language; academic content standards focus on academic content.
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7. WIDA ELP Standards
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8. Five WIDA ELP Standards
Standard 1 – SIL: ELLs communicate for SOCIAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL purposes within the school setting.
Standard 2 – LoLA: ELLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of LANGUAGE ARTS.
Standard 3 – LoMA: ELLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of MATHEMATICS.
Standard 4 – LoSC: ELLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of SCIENCE.
Standard 5 – LoSS: ELLs communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of SOCIAL STUDIES.
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9. Five Grade-Level Clusters
The 2007 WIDA ELP Standards are organized by the following grade-level clusters:
PreK−K
Grades 1−2
Grades 3−5
Grades 6−8
Grades 9−12
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10. Four Language Domains
Listening ─ process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations
Speaking ─ engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences
Reading ─ process, interpret, and evaluate written language, symbols, and text with understanding and fluency
Writing ─ engage in written communication in a variety of forms for a variety of purposes and audiences
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11. Levels of English Language Proficiency6
ENTERING
BEGINNING
DEVELOPING
EXPANDING 1 2 3 4 5
BRIDGING
REACHING
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12. WIDA Consortium

13. ACCESS for ELLs Assessing Comprehension and Communication
in English State to State for English Language Learners
On-line Test Administrator Training course
Includes “certification quizzes”
Requires individual logins
Face-to-face Training of Trainers
Face-to-face test administration training
ACCESS and W-APT Toolkit -- CD shared with Dep’t
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14. ACCESS for ELLs Directly aligned to the WIDA ELP Standards
Approximately 1/3 items refreshed annually
Five grade clusters (K-adaptive, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12-tiered)
Tests all four domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing
Security bar coded booklets
Approximately 2 million ACCESS for ELLs tests have been administered
Annual technical reports
Reviewed by WIDA TAC; a group of national leaders in the field
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15. Comparing ACCESS and W-APT
ACCESS for ELLs
W-APT
Purpose
Annual assessment of ELP Progress
Program placement, typically for new students
Administration Time
Approximately 2.5 hours
Up to 1 hour, depending on student proficiency
Proficiency Level Coverage
Three tiers, each covering three levels
Single-form measuring ELP levels 1 through 5+
Level of Security
Secure, administered during state test window
Semi-secure; administered as needed, not for public use
Administration Procedures
Individual speaking; L,R,W administered by tier within grade level cluster
Individually administered
Scoring
L, R, W machine scored by MetriTech, Inc.
Administrator scored on provided scoring sheets
Reporting
Reports from MetriTech, Inc.
Locally determined and managed
Speaking
Three parts, 13 tasks total, 15 minutes maximum
Two parts, 8 tasks total, 8-10 minutes maximum
Listening
6-7 parts, items, 30 minutes
5 parts, items, 20 minutes maximum
Reading
6-8 parts, items, 40 minutes
5 parts, items, 30 minutes maximum
Writing
3 parts (Tier A) or 4 parts (Tiers B-C), 60 minutes
2 parts (typically only 1 administered), 15 minutes
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16. Test Administration Times and Overall Score Weights
Listening
15% of test weight
20-25 minutes
Machine scored
Reading
35% of test weight
35-40 minutes
Writing
Up to 1 hour
Rater scored
Speaking
Up to 15 minutes
Administrator scored
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17. Reporting Results for ACCESS for ELLs
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18. Types of Scores Raw Scores Scale Scores
By ELP Standard
Scale Scores
Vertically scaled K–12 ( )
Separate scale scores for each language domain
English Language Proficiency Level (1.0–6.0)
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19. ACCESS for ELLs Scores Domain Scores Listening Speaking Reading
Writing
Composite Scores
Oral Language
Literacy
Comprehension
Overall
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20. Report Types & Stakeholders
Score Report
Audience or Stakeholder
Types of Information
1. Parent/ Guardian
Students
Parents/ Guardians
Teachers
School Teams
Proficiency levels for each language domain
Overall Score Comprehension
Available in multiple languages on the WIDA website
2. Teacher
Administrators
Individual student’s scale scores and language proficiency levels for each language domain and four composites Raw scores for Comprehension Tasks, Speaking and Writing Tasks by English language proficiency standard
3. Student Roster
Program Coordinators/ Directors
Scale scores and language proficiency levels for each language domain and four composites by school, grade, student, Tier, and grade level cluster
4. School Frequency
Number of students and percent of total tested at each proficiency level for each language domain and four composites within a school
5. District Frequency
Boards of Education
Number of students and percent of total tested at each proficiency level for each language domain and four composites by proficiency levels for grades within a district
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