ACCESS for ELLs

EL Assessment Update: Release of EL Reporting Elements and 2019 Future Targets for ELs

This email is to inform you that 2019 ACCESS for ELLs folders for your schools and district were placed in the Department's Gateway Portal DropBox with student data files (CSV) and an ACCESS for ELLs File Layout. If you do not already have access to the DropBox, please contact your district's Directory Administrator for authorization. In addition to data that was previously reported in the 2018 ACCESS data release, the following files are also included:

• The number and percentage of ELs who exited language instruction based on their attainment of English language proficiency in 2018 (Reporting Element #3)

• The number and percentage of ELs who did not attain English language proficiency within 6 years of initial classification as an English learner (i.e., 5 years after the baseline year) (Reporting Element #5)

• The year a student was first assigned Former English Learner (FEL) status

• The SIMS cycle in which the FEL year was first coded

• Individual student progress targets for 2019 (i.e., the minimum ACCESS proficiency level score, ranging from Levels 1.0 to 4.2, needed on next year's ACCESS test to remain on track to reach English proficiency within a total of six years in a Massachusetts school)

• "Difficulty index" for each student's progress target for 2019 (i.e., an estimate of how difficult it will be for the student to reach next year's target, ranging from 1 (least difficult) to 99 (most difficult)

Please refer to the Guidelines for the Use of Benchmarks Toward Attaining English Proficiency for more information regarding Benchmarks and Reporting Elements.

Please contact the Office of Language Acquisition with any questions at el@doe.mass.edu / 781 338-3584 or Student Assessment Services at access@doe.mass.edu / 781 338-3625.