Testing Policy and Operations

Testing Policy and Operations
ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Policy Accessibility Operations Amanda Danks Brian Swiger Testing Policy and Operations September 28, 2015

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 2015–16 WIDA Consortium begins operational administration of new summative assessment for grades 1 – 12 Used annually to assess Limited English Proficient (LEP) students’ English language proficiency ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is a new name for the new version/iteration of the English language proficiency assessment NC participated in ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 field testing in the school year and had representatives from our state participate in paper/pencil and online form review processes. Federal law states all students with limited English proficiency be annually assessed in their English language proficiency

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 in NC Mandatory online administrations
Paper/pencil available technology hardships accessibility due to disability Letters of Hardship No split mode of administration Grades 1–3 Writing (paper/pencil) The ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is an computer adaptive assessment. The new online version replaces the earlier paper/pencil version. Replaces the previous assessment ACCESS for ELLs. If LEAs/charters have technology hardship, a letter indicating the hardship should be sent to Dr. Tammy Howard, Director of Accountability. See TNN posting Required Online Testing for ACCESS for ELLS 2.0 (August 18, 2015), for additional information. Paper/pencil will also be available for students who have accessibility issues due to disabilities. See ACCESS for ELLs 2.0: Frequently Asked Questions on Accommodations, Accessibility Tools, and Test Administration Procedures on the WIDA secure login website. Grades 1-3 writing will be administered paper/pencil due to the limited keyboarding experience of this population. The writing subtests will be auto shipped to schools based on the pre-ID file provided to DRC in December.

Training and Administration
New training is required for test administrators ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 February 1–March 11, 2016 Alternate ACCESS for ELLs There are no changes for in the administration of: ACCESS for Kindergarten Alternate ACCESS Due to changes in testing procedures and scoring in some cases, many educators involved in ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 test administration will be required to complete updated training this year. There will be quizzes to pass for Kindergarten, Alternate ACCESS for Ells, and the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Paper Speaking Test. After passing a quiz with an 80% or higher, educators will be certified to give these tests. All other training is in the form of a checklist of training tasks. The training course will still provide a certificate of your training, listing all passed quizzes and completed checklists, which will indicate which sections of the test you are allowed to administer. Please log into your WIDA user account at to view the new training course for ACCESS for ELLs 2.0

Differences: Listening
This slide explains differences in administration of the online and paper/pencil ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 listening subtest for Grades 1-12. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Differences: Reading This slide explains differences in administration of the online and paper/pencil ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 reading subtest for Grades 1-12. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Differences: Speaking
This slide explains differences in administration of the online and paper/pencil ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 speaking subtest for Grades 1-12. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Differences: Writing This slide explains differences in administration of the online and paper/pencil ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 writing subtest for Grades 1-12. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Online Advantages Online-administration sequence (adaptive)
Built in accommodations/accessibility features Greater flexibility multiple grades/proficiency levels Central scoring by Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) The online version of ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 uses staged adaptivity which captures students’ individual range of language skills. Universal design has allowed many of the previous accommodations to be built into the assessment as accessibility features. All accommodations and accessibility tools must be documented in the IEP/504 plan or LEP plan as appropriate. Each student has his/her own test session loaded into the system, allowing students of multiple grade levels and proficiency levels to test simultaneously. When administered online, ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 can be administered in group settings for all domains. Online is centrally scored by DRC for all Domains. Paper/pencil: Listening, Reading, and Writing returned to DRC for scoring; Speaking is scored by test administrator during administration. Teachers must place students in tiers prior to administering the paper/pencil version of the assessment. Paper/pencil can be administered in any order. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Universal Design  Online
Human read directions embedded Multiple modalities Animations/graphics Modeling Embedded scaffolding “Chunking” *WIDA has been able to learn from the past years’ administrations along with research done in the field about assessing students with limited English proficiency. The transition from paper/pencil to online assessments has allowed for more integrated Universal Design procedures that increase and improve access for the all students. During the school year North Carolina is requiring the use of the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 online assessment for all students, unless a technical hardship waiver is filed and approved. During the upcoming professional development sessions, specific information will be given about the technology required to complete this assessment. These technology requirements should be used in discussions at the school and LEA level to ensure online testing is possible, if not this year, than certainly in the future.

WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Framework
For , the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 will use the new WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Framework; this framework will be introduced into ACCESS for ELLs (Kindergarten) and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs in There are two types of supports that are now available to ALL ELLs taking the test: Test administration procedures and Accessibility Tools. Test administration procedures are things like using familiar school personnel to administer the assessment, administering the assessment individually or in a small group, or in a separate room; providing frequent supervised breaks; or allowing students to take the assessment in short segments. Accessibility Tools are available for students taking either paper or online test and are already embedded within the test forms or provided by the test administrator. Examples of accessibility tools include highlighter, line guide, magnifier, and color overlay. While students don't need IEPs to receive either test administration procedures or accessibility tools, they should be familiar with them as part of their routine classroom instruction. *WIDA also responded to the specific needs of students with identified disabilities or other formally documented learning needs. A set of recommended accommodations, which you see at top to the pyramid, have been identified and can be assigned based on a student's specific needs. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Accessibility Tools Examples
Read/Repeat test directions by TA Adaptive seating/furniture, study carrel, special lighting/acoustics Allow for paper/pencil version (waiver process) Using tools to minimize distractions or maintain focus Student reads test aloud to self *Note that some of these accessibility tools are very similar and even the same as North Carolina State testing accommodations. When used specifically for the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 assessment, they are considered Accessibility Tools; however it is still required that they be documented in the student’s IEP/504 and LEP plans (as appropriate for the student). More information can be found at: This is the address for the tutorial, documents, and FAQ: In order to access secure WIDA documents you must have a log in. If you do not have one, please contact your LEA or Charter LEP coordinator.

Yes No Accommodations IEP/504 Plan
As outlined on pages 8-22 of the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Accessibility and Accommodations Descriptions IEP/504 Plan Yes Documented in IEP/504 Plan AND Used regularly in instruction Considered carefully for each subtest and test delivery mode No Accommodations must not be used *This decision tree refers to the use of accommodations, which are limited to use by students who have either an IEP or 504 plan. The idea is that it has been determined using a team approach that a student has a documented educational disability and would benefit from particular circumstances (accommodations) to better learn information and produce products. As with any assessment, if there is an accommodation required by a student in order to be successful that is not listed within the Test Students with Disabilities document, than the Special Accommodations Request Form should be submitted (Links at end of PPT) © Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Online vs. Paper/Pencil
Some accommodations can be provided within the online system and/or paper/pencil version Guidelines for accommodations may be different from those of other assessments Accommodations allowed depend on the subtest *It is essential that each test administrator be aware of the testing accommodations allowable for each version of the test and each subtest. The important thing to remember is that all decisions about accommodations, and accessibility tools for that matter, begin with what the student needs. After this is determined based solely on student needs, teams can determine how to make those particular circumstances available for each student on a caseload during testing.

Accommodation Differences
BIG and small *We will now go through a few differences in accommodations between the 2.0 version and the past version. We will also discuss the differences in the accommodations as prescribed by WIDA and how they are typically used for North Carolina state tests. This is not an exhaustive list, which can be found using the links at the end of this presentation, but instead just the highlights so that we can prepare our students and teachers for this assessment. As with any accommodations for state testing that are not listed, a Special Accommodation Request form can always be submitted with descriptions of proposed accommodations.

Read Aloud Test Items by Human Reader
*As with other North Carolina State tests, the Reading subtest is measuring the student’s ability to read English and therefore reading it would invalidate the test. *This accommodation is not applicable for the online administration. As a part of the Universal Design that is built into the assessment, the online test is already read aloud by a human reader for the Listening, Speaking, and Writing subtests. * According to the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Accessibility and Accommodations Descriptions and Guidelines documents, ”If human reader is also needed with the prompts found in the Writing and Speaking tests, the student should participate in the paper administration of the test” *The idea is that if a student requires human reader beyond what is provided in the online assessment (because that is already a human reader) than they likely need it for facial cues, lip reading, or some other face-to-face support. If those are the reasons, WIDA suggests that it may be difficult to ask a student to focus on graphics on the computer, their human reader, and respond online. *For the listening and speaking tests a “recording” script can be ordered; however, this is not a standard shipment so please follow appropriate guidelines to receive that as a part of your testing packet. *When using the paper/pencil test, some tests/grades contain dialogue in the script which may require two trained test administrators at the same time to provide this accommodation. This is something to consider when scheduling testing sessions yet not something to dissuade a team from selecting this accommodation if the student needs it. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Large Print Version of the Test
*The online version of ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 can be enlarged to times the existing size depending on the size of the screen. Be mindful that if using tablets or Chromebooks for large print online test administration, enlarging may require a student to scan the entire screen to see the test item and choices, which may unnecessarily complicate things for some students. *Standard large print orders will be in 18pt font. If larger is needed, this will be handled on a case by case basis. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Braille Version of the Test
*This assessment can be provided in contracted or uncontracted Braille, depending on what the student requires. *Caution should be used when selecting this accommodation for a student who is not fluent in Braille as that may affect the results. This is not meant to be a test in Braille proficiency, but instead an assessment of English Language proficiency. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Extended speaking Test Response Time
*This accommodation only applies to the Speaking subtest. The standard test time is 30 minutes so a student is able to use up to 60 minutes to complete this assessment if deemed appropriate by the IEP/504 team. © 2015 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Updating the Pre ID File
The following accommodations must be entered in PowerSchool prior to the file transfer: Manual Control of Item Audio Repeat Item Audio Extended Speaking Test Response Time Information must be entered by December 1, 2015

Operations

Upcoming Webinars (WIDA)
Test Coordinator 10:30 am & 1:00 pm CT 10:30 am & 1:00 pm CT Test Administrator 10:30 am & 1:00 pm CT Tech Coordinator 3:00 pm CT 10:00 am CT The following webinars will be overviews of each WIDA defined testing role. If attendees cannot participate live, these webinars will be recorded and posted.

Upcoming Face-to-Face Training
Schedule and Locations 11/2 – New Bern, NC (10:00-2:30) 11/3 – High Point, NC (10:00-2:30) 11/4 – Asheville, NC (10:30-3:00) ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Face-to-Face Training These face-to-face training sessions will be designed for participants in NC and provided by WIDA trainers. The half day session will focus on the WIDA defined test coordinator role and will help the person serving in this testing role to become familiar with the changes/responsibilities associated with the transition to online testing. We will limit one person per LEA/charter due to a maximum capacity of 65 participants at each location. Registration information will be coming soon through TNN.

NC Tech Coordinator Webinar
10:00-12:00 am EST tech.aspx This WIDA/DRC hosted webinar will be specifically designed for North Carolina. It will be recorded and posted if participants cannot attend live. It will help our technology coordinators prepare for ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 test administrations and help answer questions about platform/system requirements, delivery of test items, etc. Please visit the technology requirements page to ensure all devices and operating systems meet the specifications.

Accessibility ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Accessibility Tools and Accommodations Guidelines ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Accessibility Tools and Accommodations Descriptions WIDA Accessibility FAQ Accommodation Notification Request Form Coming soon: ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 NC DPI Quick Reference

Testing Policy and Operations
ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Policy Accessibility Operations Wendy Wooten Amanda Danks Brian Swiger Testing Policy and Operations September 16, 2015