ACCESS for ELLs® Test Facilitator Training Workshop Overview The purpose of this training module is to inform participants of the tier placement, booklet ordering, and security procedures that must be adhered to before, during, and after administration of the ACCESS for ELLs®. The roles and responsibilities of those involved in testing, particularly as they relate to test security, will be defined. Participants will become familiar with general and state specific test security guidelines; the types of materials they will receive at the district and school level; and the timeline for receipt and return of these materials vis-à-vis the testing window. This training module also provides a sample security checklist for districts and schools to follow to ensure test security. Emily Evans, Center for Applied Linguistics January 2007 New Jersey Department of Education Developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics

Overview of the Day Morning: Introduction to WIDA – Test Background, Participant Roles Administering ACCESS Group Tests - Listening, Reading, and Writing Administering and Scoring ACCESS Speaking Test Administering and Scoring ACCESS Kindergarten Test Afternoon: Administering and Scoring the Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs Enrollment and Use of D2L:  Online ACCESS for ELLs® Training Brief Review of Tier Placement of Students for ACCESS Testing Maintaining Test Security and Understanding ACCESS Score Reports Our goal is that by the end of the day, you are proficient in each of these topics as they pertain to your role in ACCESS testing.

New Jersey’s Testing Window Task Start Date End Date Duration (Days) Test Ordering 02/01/07 02/28/07 28 Pre-ID Ordering 03/07/07 35 State Receives Test Materials 03/26/07 1 Test Window 04/16/07 06/01/07 47 Additional Materials Deadline   05/18/07 Districts Ship Completed Material to MT 06/11/07 Reports Shipped to State 08/10/07 Note that the test ordering window closes two weeks prior to the state’s testing window. <Modify the date information as required to reflect your state’s testing window.>

Background on the WIDA Consortium and the Consortium Assessments This training module provides background on the organization and activities of the WIDA Consortium. At the end of this module, participants will be familiar with the structure of the WIDA Consortium, as well as the products and services it offers to its member states. Participants will also become acquainted with the WIDA English language proficiency standards, and their centrality to the creation of the ACCESS for ELLs®. In addition, this training module provides a brief overview of the ACCESS for ELLs® test battery and administration process. Emily Evans, Center for Applied Linguistics January 2007 New Jersey Department of Education Developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics

Training Objectives To understand how the WIDA consortium is organized and what it offers member states To understand how the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards are translated into ACCESS for ELLs® test items To understand how the ACCESS for ELLs® test is structured This module is intended only as an introduction to WIDA and its assessment products. For comprehensive details on how to administer each component of ACCESS for ELLs® and how to score the Speaking Test, please refer to the training modules designed for those purposes: Administering Group Components of ACCESS for ELLs®, Administering the Speaking Component of ACCESS for ELLs®, and Administering Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs®.

Workshop Table of Contents Background on the WIDA Consortium WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards WIDA Products and Services By the end of this training module, you should have a basic idea of how the WIDA consortium is structured, and as well as what products and services they offer to member states.

Why “WIDA”? The WIDA Consortium was originally made up of three states: Wisconsin, Delaware, and Arkansas. As the Consortium grew, the name was changed to reflect that growth. WIDA now stands for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment, and as of 2006 includes 15 states: Alabama Delaware District of Columbia Georgia Illinois Kentucky Maine New Hampshire New Jersey North Dakota Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Wisconsin The Consortium is managed out of the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research (WCER) at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. [Arkansas is no longer a member of the WIDA consortium.]

Organization of Consortium Activities CAL is contracted by WIDA to develop testing and training products. CAL is also a participating member of WIDA at steering committee and executive committee meetings. CAL is located in Washington, DC. MetriTech is located in Champaign, Illinois. Margo Gottlieb is affiliated with the Illinois Resource Center in DesPlaines, Illinois.

Who Does What for ACCESS Testing? Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) – coordination of item writing course; development of test items; layout of test booklets and scripts; maintenance of training products and professional development opportunities; test item data analysis MetriTech – PDSR – Production, Distribution, Scoring, & Reporting functions Test Facilitators – enroll test administrators in online course and issue certification; oversee test security; typically at district level Test Coordinators –testing window scheduling and ordering of booklets; typically at school level Test Administrators – administer one or all components of the ACCESS for ELLs® (Speaking, Kindergarten, Group); typically a teacher Assessment Title III and State Organizations Not all districts will have separately designated test coordinators, and in some smaller districts, one person may fulfill all three roles; the coordinator position was developed for school districts that are so large that the testing responsibilities need to be distributed among three hierarchical levels. In most cases, a test facilitator will train test administrators, enroll them in the online training course, and oversee handling of test materials, and scheduling of test windows. Test Administrators may or may not be tasked with materials handling in all districts. This is left up to local entities to decide and monitor. All facilitators, administrators and coordinators share equal responsibility in maintaining the security of ACCESS for ELLs® test forms.

Office of Specialized Populations (609) 292-8777 State Contact Information Office of Specialized Populations (609) 292-8777 Acting Director, James F. Curry Bilingual Education Coordinator, Ms. Raquel Sinai Bilingual/ESL Educational Specialist, Ms. Lori Ramella Bilingual/ESL Educational Specialist Ms. Ericka Reed DOE Website: http://www.nj.gov/njded/bilingual/services/ If this slide is not required, it may be deleted.

WIDA Products and Services Language Proficiency Standards English Language Proficiency Standards Spanish Language Arts Standards English Language and Content Assessments ACCESS for ELLs® (Large-Scale Assessment ) WIDA–ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT)™ — The Screener Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® for cognitively disabled children (in development) ONPAR™ content assessment for low proficient ELLs (in development) Supplemental Activities CLIMBS professional development workshops ACCESS Item Writing Course, annually in the winter Test administration training Validation and Research Bridge study of ACCESS data with LAS, IPT, MAC II, LPTS data Annual technical reports Speaking test inter-rater reliability study Today’s Focus CLIMBS workshops are aimed at preparing teachers to incorporate and use the WIDA ELP standards in classroom instruction and assessment. ONPAR will be an alternate content (Title I) assessment designed for students with very low English proficiency. It will be computer-delivered test. Alternate ACCESS is aimed at cognitively disabled ELLs and other students. It will be a portfolio-based, language proficiency assessment.

Associations between WIDA Products This slide shows the logical connections between the most central of the WIDA assessment products.

WIDA CLIMBS Course Content and Language Integration as a Means of Bridging Success Hybrid course (part face-to-face, part online) Course Objectives: To build understanding of the integration of content and WIDA English language proficiency (ELP) standards in classroom instruction. To apply a research-based, comprehensive approach to sheltering academic content for ELLs. To use summative (ACCESS for ELLs®, state achievement test) and formative (classroom assessment) data to inform instruction. To share best practices among ESL, bilingual, and general educators through on-line interaction.

Item Writing Course Offered annually in the Spring Delivered online Participants may be eligible for continuing education or graduate credits through UW Oshkosh ESOL teachers from all grade level clusters in all Consortium states invited to participate States nominate one or more class participants Participants design items based on test specifications Output used on future ACCESS for ELLs® tests

WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT™) Tests all four language domains Tests up to Level 6 on WIDA ELP Scale (for Grades 1-12) Used as aid in determining ELL services Kindergarten W-APT™ includes Oral Proficiency component and optional Diagnostic Reading and Writing components Adaptive at all grade levels, so administration time depends on student’s proficiency Semi-secure, free and downloadable with district password from www.wida.us

ONPAR™ ONPAR™ — Obtaining Necessary Parity through Academic Rigor Content assessment for low proficient ELLs in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 Math component Science component Language Arts component Written to address state content standards and to be comparable to state content tests in coverage and rigor Computer delivered & scored Intended for 2010-2011 academic year

ACCESS Training Test Administration Manuals In addition to seasonal face-to-face workshops, WIDA supports a Train-the-Trainer approach to preparing teachers and administrators to administer ACCESS for ELLs® assessments. The available materials include: Test Administration Manuals District and School Test Administration Manual ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten Test Administration Manual D2L Online Course and CD version of D2L course Training Toolkit CD Coaching Guide PowerPoint presentations Sample test items Speaking and Writing Rubrics

The WIDA ELP Standards Standard 1 – SI Standard 2 – LA Standard 3 – MA English language learners communicate in English for social and instructional purposes in the school setting. Standard 2 – LA English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts. Standard 3 – MA English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Math. Standard 4 – SC English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science. Standard 5 – SS English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies. Within each standard, there are PIs for Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing for each grade-level cluster (K, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12). These represent the language of the content areas from which test items are drawn. These are four content areas addressed: Social Studies (SS), Language Arts (LA), Math (MA) and Science (SC). Social Instructional language is the language of the classroom, the language that cuts across all the disciplines.

Overall Organization of Standards Frameworks for Classroom & Large-Scale Assessment (2) English Language Proficiency Standards (5) Grade Level Clusters (4) Language Proficiency Levels (5) Model PIs are the lowest level of expression of the standards Model Performance Indicators Language Domains (4) The WIDA ELP standards show several levels of organization. The organization of the standards is hierarchical. At the highest level, the standards are general statements about a broad range of communicative proficiency in a particular content area. As the standards drill down to the Model Performance Indicators they become much more specific about the particular kind of language proficiency being addressed. Across the 2 frameworks, formative and summative, there are over 800 model performance indicators.

Centrality of the ELP Standards ACCESS for ELLs® and W-APT™ Classroom Assessment Framework Large-Scale Assessment Framework English Language Proficiency Standards & Performance Definitions The complete set of standards is available at www.wida.us. Standards address language proficiency, not content knowledge; the language of math, for example. A model performance indicator is a very specific skill for which ELLs are held accountable, such as “identify the resources necessary to create an art project.. The model performance indicators reflect what we know from research about how language develops. The formative model performance indicators were previously called “classroom” and the summative ones were previously called “large-scale.” Model Performance Indicators: Formative Model Performance Indicators: Summative

Levels of English Language Proficiency 6 ENTERING BEGINNING DEVELOPING EXPANDING 1 2 3 4 5 BRIDGING REACHING The labels used for the six proficiency levels were created by the WIDA development team. ELL status is restricted to levels 1 through 5. A student reaching level 6 shows no language characteristics that would distinguish him or her as needing special English language services. Such a student would be capable enough in all language domains: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing, to be able to benefit fully from mainstream classroom instruction. Note that a student at a lower level in the policy set by states or school districts may be designated as functionally able to participate in and benefit from regular classroom instruction and may, in fact, be pulled from special English language services.

Criteria for Proficiency Level Definitions Linguistic Complexity: Extent of functional language (written or oral discourse) Vocabulary Usage: Comprehension and use of the technical vocabulary of the content areas Language Control: Comprehension and use of phonological, syntactic, and semantic structure & rules ENTERING BEGINNING DEVELOPING EXPANDING 1 2 3 4 5 BRIDGING 6 REACHING The criteria used to determine the proficiency level definitions are couched in terms of the language used in schools to impart content area information. Issues of grammar in its broad sense as well as semantic & pragmatic knowledge are brought to bear in formulating the definitions. At the two lower proficiency levels, it is assumed that ELLs would need substantial extralinguistic support via graphic and visual aids in order to carry out language functions. This requirement also motivates the use of graphics for test items at these levels. It is upon these three criteria that the rubrics for Writing and Speaking are based.

ACCESS for ELLs® Overview Secure, large-scale test Anchored in WIDA’s ELP Standards Assesses academic language Three tiers for each grade level cluster Tier A: Proficiency levels 1-3 Tier B: Proficiency levels 2-4 Tier C: Proficiency levels 3-5 One third of test items replaced annually Administered once per year as required by No Child Left Behind Indicator of student’s ability to perform on state content test

Tier Structure of ACCESS for ELLs® 1 2 3 4 5 ENTERING BEGINNING DEVELOPING EXPANDING BRIDGING Tier A Tier B Tier C The three overlapping tiers of the ACCESS for ELLs® test are designed to create tests whose items span a range of difficulty within the range of proficiency of an individual student taking the test. The intention is to present items to the student that are neither too easy nor too difficult and that collectively pinpoint his or her true proficiency level. It is expected that the majority of students will receive the Tier B form of the test. Tier A is intended for very low proficiency students and Tier C for students close to exiting from ELL status.

ACCESS Administration Times and Composite Score Weights Listening (15%): 20-25 minutes, machine scored Reading (35%): 35-40 minutes, machine scored Writing (35%): Up to 1 hour, rater scored Speaking (15%): Up to 15 minutes, administrator scored Administration times do not reflect logistics time, that is, the time needed to assemble students in the test room and to distribute, collect and secure test booklets.

Structure of ACCESS for ELLs® Grade Levels and Tiers K 1-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 Adaptive (no tiers) A B C Domains Listening — group administered, machine scored Reading — group administered, machine scored Speaking — individual administered, TA scored Writing — group administered, rater scored There are 13 tests total in the ACCESS for ELLs® battery: one Kindergarten test (adaptive) plus three tiered forms at each of the grade-level clusters. Each test assesses all four language domains, and in each domain, all five standards are assessed. Descriptions of individual tests in the ACCESS for ELLs® test battery are included in the training PowerPoint presentations for Administering the Group Components of ACCESS for ELLs® and Administering the ACCESS for ELLs® Speaking Test. Series 101 (roll-out Winter 2006) 102 (roll-out Winter 2007) 103 (roll-out Winter 2008)

Test Administration Overview Listening and Reading are administered together in one group session (approximately 75 minutes) Writing is administered in a separate group session (approximately 75 minutes) 15-20 students per group session Speaking is administered individually All test sessions must occur within state’s testing window The Test Administration Manual contains additional guidance for scheduling test sessions, including sample test session rosters and guidelines from MetriTech on how to manage test materials and operations.

Listening Test Multiple choice 20-25 minutes Thematically organized Scripted Group administered Machine scored

Reading Test Multiple choice 35-40 minutes Thematically organized Group administered Machine scored

Writing Test Up to 1 hour 4 tasks per tiered form: SI MA SC Integrated Task on Tiers B and C (combines LA/SS/SI) Writing task is modeled for child Rater scored (by MetriTech)

Speaking Test Up to 15 minutes per student No tiers – adaptive format Individually administered 3 parts per form: SI LA/SS MA/SC Scored by test administrator Qualitative ratings assigned according to Speaking Rubric Numeric score calculated by MetriTech

ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten Test All components individually administered All components adaptive—stop a test component when child reaches his/her ceiling All responses, except for Writing section, recorded by TA TA scores all components, including Writing, during administration Averages 30 minutes per student for all components

Where to Go for WIDA Resources www.wida.us To access and download the sample ACCESS for ELLs® test items To read current FAQ sheet providing general information on WIDA and ACCESS for ELLs® To access and download the WIDA standards To request user support via email To request CDs contact your state’s Title III coordinator

Questions or Comments? For more information, please contact the WIDA Hotline: 1-866-276-7735 or www.wida.us/helpform World Class Instructional Design and Assessment, www.wida.us Center for Applied Linguistics, www.cal.org Metritech, Inc., www.metritech.com

Questions or Comments? For more information, please contact the WIDA Hotline: 1-866-276-7735 or www.wida.us/helpform World Class Instructional Design and Assessment, www.wida.us Center for Applied Linguistics, www.cal.org Metritech, Inc., www.metritech.com