Greetings. We hope you are healthy and able to work from home, to the extent possible. As we prepare to provide you with ACCESS test results, we are asking you to conduct pre-reporting data validation of your school's records. This EL Update provides revised dates to the pre-reporting data validation window as well as instructions for validating the demographic data currently available for your school or district.
To provide you with timely ACCESS results, the Department will adhere as closely as possible to the original timeline for pre-reporting data validation and results reporting, but has made some minor adjustments.
The pre-reporting data validation window has been extended one week from March 23 to April 3.
Test results will still be available electronically on May 15 and in print on or about May 26.
The post-reporting data validation window will remain May 26–June 3, with final data reported in WIDA AMS on June 17.
You should already have received an email from Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), the ACCESS test contractor, with instructions for conducting pre-reporting data validation.
Between now and April 3, data validation will be required for schools that administered either online or paper-based ACCESS tests, and who wish to correct any demographic information on students whose names, grades, SASIDs, accommodations, or testing status may have been mis-reported by schools during testing. This will be the only opportunity to correct these errors prior to release of results.
In preparation for reporting accurate 2020 ACCESS results, ACCESS Test Coordinators will be asked to log in to the WIDA Assessment Management System (AMS) to review and, if necessary, correct any discrepancies in their student data. The procedure for correcting your school's student records is described briefly below and in a recent email from DRC.
The data validation process is designed to allow schools to identify individual student records that may contain errors and provide schools with the opportunity to correct inaccuracies before results are reported. You will be asked to review and, if needed, correct only the following fields:
Student Demographic Information, including:
First Name (e.g., incorrect spelling, hyphen, multiple names)
Last Name (e.g., incorrect spelling, hyphen, multiple names)
SASID (e.g., incorrect digit(s))
School (e.g., incorrect school)
Birthdate (e.g., incorrect date)
Enrolled Grade (e.g., incorrect grade)
Individual Student Accommodations (e.g., missing or incorrect accommodation(s))
Test Results/"Do Not Score" Codes (e.g., missing code or code incorrectly applied)
Please make sure that any changes to the student's demographic information above are also made in your district's March 2020 SIMS, which will be the official source for reporting.
Instructions for viewing and editing student records can be found in the WIDA AMS User Guide: Data Validation Supplement on the WIDA website. This resource provides important information on reviewing and correcting student demographic records, accommodation records, and "do not score" test records.
WIDA also has made available a Post-Testing: Data Validation, 3.4.20 - Video webinar available in the Download library.
Please review the return materials receipts report for your schools in WIDA AMS. This is a report of materials that were supposed to be returned to DRC, but to date have not been received. To do this, log in to WIDA AMS, select the administration year 2019-2020, your district, and school. Then click on the Materials>Return Materials Receipt Report tabs to view the materials that have not been received.
If you believe your school has returned the material, log in to WIDA AMS and select All Applications>Materials>Accountability Form. The bottom of the form contains a place to note any discrepancy. Schools can note that they returned booklets (with bar code number) in UPS box (Insert Tracking Number) or provide an explanation for the missing materials.
Important change: The Department will now assign scores to students with certain "Not Tested" SPD codes in the specific situations described below. Assigned scores will be included in the fall 2020 data release in the Security Portal Dropbox only and will not appear on Individual Student Reports (ISRs). Assigning scores will allow a student to receive an overall proficiency level in cases where all four test domains were not attempted due to an unavailable accommodation; and can be used by districts to make determinations regarding whether to exit a student from EL status. Score assignments will also allow individual progress targets to be calculated for the following year. Score assignments will be calculated for missing scores using an average of the student's scores in the other tested domains. Students must have participated in all other domain test for which accommodations were available. Parent reports will not include assigned scores and will remain unchanged from prior years.
Scores will be assigned in cases where an EL student:
has a primary disability that is reported as "Sensory: Hard of Hearing or Deaf" and this is already listed in the student's IEP or 504 plan. The student must take the ACCESS Reading and Writing tests, but not the Listening and Speaking tests, if they are unable to listen to or respond verbally to test items. Listening and Speaking tests for the student must be coded as SPD.
has a primary disability that is reported as "Sensory: Vision Impairment or Blind" and takes the Braille version of the Reading and the Writing tests. The student must take the Reading and Writing tests, but not the Listening and Speaking tests, due to the use of complex graphics on those tests. Listening and Speaking tests for the student must be coded as SPD.
meets the specific criteria (see MCAS Accessibility and Accommodations Manual , pp. 21–22) to receive the ELA read-aloud "special access" accommodation for the MCAS ELA test (i.e., Accommodation SA1.1, SA1.2, or SA1.3) and this is already listed in the student's IEP or 504 plan. Schools may, at their discretion, choose to administer the ACCESS Reading test to the student for diagnostic purposes. Alternatively, the school may code the student's ACCESS Reading domain as SPD.
has documentation that indicates that he/she is "selectively mute" and is unable to respond verbally to Speaking test items (see the WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Supplement, p. 29) and this is already listed in the student's IEP or 504 plan. The student must take the Reading, Listening, and Writing tests, but not the Speaking test. Speaking test must be coded as SPD.
The following 2019 ACCESS for ELLs Reporting Element results are posted on the Department's website:
2019 Reporting Elements 1, 2, 3, and 5: State, Title III Districts, and Consortia
2019 Reporting Element 4: State, Title III District, and Consortia
2019 ACCESS for ELLs Results by District (Reporting Elements 1 and 2)
2019 ACCESS for ELLs Results by School (Reporting Elements 1 and 2)
ACCESS 2019 results are now also available in the DESE Security Portal Dropbox, under "ACCESS Data 2019 files." Please contact your district Directory Administrator for authorization if you do not already have access to DropBox. The following files are available:
2019_ACCESS_for_ELLs_student_level_R3_[district #].csv
2019 ACCESS for ELLs student level R3 File Layout.xlsx
2019_ACCESS_for_ELLs_Reporting_Elements_Agg_[district #].csv
2019 ACCESS for ELLs Reporting Elements Agg File Layout.xlsx
Please refer to the Guide to Understanding the Title III Reporting Elements for English Learners in Massachusetts for 2017 and Beyond for more information regarding Reporting Elements.
Contact Student Assessment Services with any questions about ACCESS for ELLs testing at ACCESS@doe.mass.edu or by phone at 781-338-3625.
Your understanding and flexibility as we adjust to difficult and rapidly changing circumstances is appreciated.
Thank you for your attention to this information.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
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