Greetings and thank you for all you continue to do for multilingual students each day. Included in this update are important announcements and reminders regarding ACCESS for ELLs and the K W-APT screener.
The pre-reporting data validation window provides an opportunity for schools to correct any demographic errors for students who participated in the recently completed 2022 ACCESS test administration. This will be the only opportunity to correct the information listed below before ACCESS results are released in WIDA AMS on May 19. School Test Coordinators should review and correct (if needed) the following information between April 11–19:
Also please ensure that any changes are also corrected in your June SIMS report.
District- and school-level reports will be available in WIDA AMS on May 19, including:
The Department requests that EL program directors please take the 2023 ACCESS Testing Window Survey and express your district's preference for either maintaining the 2023 ACCESS for ELLs testing window as before (5 weeks) or extending the window to 7 weeks.
An extended testing window will likely include more students in ACCESS testing. However, results will likely arrive in schools between one and two weeks later than in previous years. More information is provided below.
Option #1: January 5, 2023 – February 9, 2023 (five weeks of testing). Electronic results anticipated around May 5; print results delivered to schools around May 16.
Option #2: January 5, 2023 – March 3, 2023 (seven weeks of testing). Electronic results anticipated between May 18–23 and print results delivered to schools sometime between May 31–June 3, 2023.
Please complete the ACCESS 2023 Testing Window Survey by April 15, 2022 to indicate your preference for the 2023 ACCESS for ELLs testing window.
As of June 30, 2022, the K W-APT materials will be removed from the WIDA Secure Portal and will no longer be available nor will K W-APT be supported. However, districts will be allowed to use the K W-APT between July 1, 2022 – January 1, 2023, but must download the files of K W-APT materials from the WIDA Secure Portal before June 30. Be aware that the K W-APT will no longer be authorized to screen Massachusetts students after January 1, 2023, after which all districts will be required to use the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten for their incoming kindergarten and first-semester grade 1 students. More details will be provided later this spring.
The WIDA Screener for Kindergarten (i.e., the "K Screener") has been available for use by districts since March 1, provided that staff have been trained in its use and are certified in its administration. Please continue to prepare your staff for the transition to the K Screener. K Screener training modules and certification quizzes are available in the WIDA Secure Portal.
Cut scores for the K Screener (and modified cut scores for K MODEL) were announced in the February 16 EL Assessment Update, as well as in the Initial Identification of ELs publication on the Department's English Learner Education web page.
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.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
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