1. ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs
Academy for New System Test Coordinators 2013
Susan Beard
Alabama State Department of Education

2. WHAT IS ACCESS? English language proficiency test
Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State
Standards based, criterion referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English Learners’ (EL) social academic proficiency
Used to monitor student progress in attaining English language on a yearly basis and allows teachers to determine when students have become English proficient
Allows Alabama to meet the No Child Left Behind requirement for assessing ALL K-12 EL students for proficiency growth and academic progress
Alabama is one of 33 states currently in a consortium with World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)
Alabama has been administering ACCESS since 2005

3. TEST OVERVIEW 5 Areas 5 Grade-level Clusters 5 Proficiency Levels
4 Domains
3 Tiers
Social and Instructional Language
Kindergarten
1. Entering
Reading
Tier A: Covers levels 1-3
Language of Language Arts
1st – 2nd
2. Beginning
Listening
Tier B: Covers levels 2-4
Language of Mathematics
3rd – 5th
3. Developing
Writing
Tier C: Covers levels 3-5
Language of Science
6th – 8th
4. Expanding
Speaking
Language of Social Studies
9th – 12th
5. Bridging
6. Reaching
*Kindergarten test is adaptive
Overlapping ensures that test questions are not too hard or too easy

4. TIER STRUCTURE OF ACCESS
ENTERING 1
BEGINNING 2
DEVELOPING 3
EXPANDING 4
BRIDGING 5 6
Tier A (levels 1 - 3)
REACHING
Tier B (levels 2- 4)
Tier C (levels 3-5)
Tier A: newly arrived students with little to no English language
Tier B: students have acquired some literacy in English though have not yet reached grade level literacy
Tier C: students have achieved grade level literacy and are expected to exit on ACCESS

5. ADMINISTRATION Session 1 (75 minutes total) Listening (25 mins.)
Reading (35 mins.)
Distribution (15 mins.)
Session 2 (75 minutes total)
Writing (60 mins.)
Session 3 ( About 15 minutes)
Speaking
Listening, reading and writing are administered in a group setting
The speaking test is administered individually and is the only test scored by the test administrator
Each tier is administered separately

6. MEDIA DELIVERED LISTENING TEST
Beginning , the Listening subtest will be administered via CD
CDs will be included in the test materials
Systems may also choose to download the listening file from the computer by contacting MetriTech
Pencil/Paper only and group administered

7. BREAKDOWN OF TEST BOOKLETS
1-2 A
1-2 B
1-2 C
3-5 A
3-5 B
3-5 C
6-8 A
6-8 B
6-8 C
9-12 A
9-12 B
9-12 C
***Kindergarten is not tiered***

8. KINDERGARTEN ADMINISTRATION
Individually administered and scored by the Test Administrator
About 45 minutes per student
Use of manipulatives
Adaptive assessment: questions are presented that the Test Administrator feels the student can reasonably respond to, based on responses from questions in previous levels

9. KINDERGARTEN OVERVIEW
6 Parts
5 Levels
4 Domains
Narrative –
1. Entering
Listening
Part A: Listening and Speaking
2. Beginning
Speaking
Part B: Writing
3. Developing
Writing
Part C: Reading
4. Expanding
Expository –
5. Bridging
Reading
Part D: Listening and Speaking
Part E: Writing
Part F: Reading

10. HOW LONG WILL EL STUDENTS BE ASSESSED WITH THE ACCESS ASSESSMENT ?
EL students will continue to be assessed with ACCESS until they attain a 4.8 composite score.
At that point, EL students are considered language proficient and will then enter a 2 year monitoring phase . During this time, EL students are monitored to ensure they are functioning in the mainstream without support.

11. DECISION PROCESS FOR EL STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN STATE ASSESSMENTS
Enrolled in a U.S. school for less than 12 months…
must participate in the math subtest/subject-area test of the Alabama Alternate Assessment (AAA), ACT Aspire, ACT Explore, ACT Plan, and the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE)
must participate in the science subtest/subject-area test of the AAA, Alabama Science Assessment ( ASA), ACT Explore, ACT Plan, and the biology subject-area test of the AHSGE
are not required to take the reading subtest/subject-area test of any of the above assessments
must participate in the end-of-course assessments for any of the courses for which they are enrolled and receiving course credit
will take all portions of the The ACT Plus Writing
*****EL students enrolled for more than 12 months in a U.S. school will participate in all state assessments*****

12. WHAT IS ALTERNATE ACCESS FOR ELLS?
An assessment of English language proficiency for students in grades 1-12 who are classified as EL and have significant cognitive disabilities
Intended for EL students whose cognitive disabilities are severe enough to prevent meaningful participation on ACCESS for ELLs even with accommodations
Individually administered pencil and paper test
EL students who participate in Alternate ACCESS for ELLs will also participate in the AAA

13. ONLINE TRAINING alabama pinetree
Online training is required for all Test Administrators
All Test Administrators are required to create an account on the WIDA Web site at
New Test Administrators will log in with the user name
and the password
Once logged in, users will be prompted to create a new user name and password
alabama
pinetree

14. TEST ADMINISTRATOR TRAINING
Online training takes about 2 hours to complete. It does not have to be completed in one session.
A passing score of 80% is required for each test. Certificates will be available and should be kept on file by the System Test Coordinator (STC).
Test Administrators that have previously completed and successfully passed the online training course do not have to recertify.
All personnel involved with ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS testing must also participate in training at the local level.
STCs will have access to current and past online scores by creating a profile indicating their role as the Test Coordinator.
ALL Test Administrators must participate in the new training for the media- delivered Listening test.

15. This certificate is awarded to Susan Beard For successful completion of the following quizzes in the ACCESS for ELLs® online test administrator training course, and s/he is hereby certified to administer the corresponding sections of the test to students: Test Background and Group Administered Components (7/30/10) The dates listed next to the quiz name indicate that the above named individual may administer the corresponding section of ACCESS for ELLs® during the same academic year. Please note that individual states within the WIDA Consortium may or may not require individuals to recertify as test administrators each academic year. For more information, please contact your state's educational agency or visit

16. TRAINING TOOLKIT www.wida.us
Resources available in the Training Toolkit are intended for use by trainers who will be facilitating face-to-face training sessions
PowerPoints are not to be sent by or posted to any site but may be copied and distributed

18. TEST DATES March 24 – May 2, 2014 for both assessments
Ordering will take place between January 27 – February 21 for both assessments
You will receive step-by-step instructions from MetriTech a few days prior to the ordering window

19. Contact: QUESTIONS ??????????? Student Assessment Susan Beard