ACCESS for ELLs

EL Assessment Update: End of Year Reminders

Thank you for making a tremendous effort to assess your grades K–12 EL students on ACCESS this year! We recognize how challenging this must have been for you and your teams and we appreciate all you have done to ensure the safe testing of more than 75,000 students between January and May. Below are a few reminders to keep in mind as you end your school year.

WIDA AMS and WIDA Screener Online Updates for 2021-2022

The administration of the WIDA Screener Online for the next school year (2021-2022) will open in WIDA AMS on Friday, June 25. This means that all Speaking and Writing responses from this year's (2020-2021) screener administration must be scored by Thursday, June 24, 2021. After June 24, 2021, the 2020-2021 administration screener results will become "read only" and cannot be changed.

ACCESS Pre-Reporting Data Validation: July 6–12, 2021

The pre-reporting data validation window provides an opportunity for schools to correct any demographic errors for students who participated in the recently completed 2021 ACCESS test administration. This will be the only opportunity to correct the information listed below before ACCESS results are released in WIDA AMS on August 5. Please make arrangements for someone in your school or program to review and correct (if needed) the following information between July 6–12 as needed:

• First and last names (look for incorrect spelling, hyphens, or multiple names for the same student)
• SASID (ensure that LASID or temporary numbers are not listed in place of the SASID)
• School
• Birthdate
• Enrolled grade
• Accommodations (correct any missing or incorrect accommodations)
• Test results/"Do Not Score" codes (correct any missing codes or remove codes incorrectly applied)

Also please ensure that any changes made are also corrected in your June SIMS report.

Online ACCESS Score Reports Available in WIDA AMS: August 5

District- and School-level reports will be available in WIDA AMS on August 5, including:

• District Frequency Distribution Reports — Number of students and percentage of total tested at each proficiency level for each language domain, and four composite proficiency levels, for grades within the district.
• School Frequency Distribution Reports — Number of students and percentage of total tested at each proficiency level for each language domain, and four composite proficiency levels, within a school.
• School Roster Reports — Scale scores and language proficiency levels for each language domain, and four composite proficiency levels by grade, student, and grade-level cluster within a school.
• Individual Student Reports — Individual student scale scores and language proficiency levels for each language domain and four composite proficiency levels. A pdf file is provided with multiple student reports, available in Spanish or English.
• Student Response Files — District — Individual Student test data, including various test scores for the district.

WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Field Study for Incoming K Students

The Department is requesting that districts volunteer to assist in determining the appropriate cut score for English language proficiency on the new WIDA Screener for Kindergarten. We are asking districts who are planning to screen incoming kindergarten students this July, August, and September using either the K W-APT or the K MODEL to "double screen" a small number of students using the new WIDA Screener for Kindergarten. We request that you screen up to 10 students using the new WIDA Screener for Kindergarten if the student has scored 27 or higher on the K W-APT or Level 4.5 or higher on the K MODEL. We are asking that you screen those students only on the oral portions (Listening and Speaking) of the new K screener, which should take about 10–20 minutes per student to administer 4–5 additional tasks. Students should be screened on both screeners on the same day, with a break between screener administrations. Please email your name, district, and the incoming kindergarten screener you currently use to access@mass.gov so information regarding how to input your screener results can be emailed to you separately. Many thanks for assisting the state in determining the "right" cut score for the new screener for kindergarten.

Contact Student Assessment Services with any questions about ACCESS for ELLs testing at access@mass.gov or by phone at 781-338-3625.

Thank you for your attention to this information.