COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA



2015 Administration of ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

Pennsylvania’s 2015 testing window for the annual State English Language Proficiency Assessment (ACCESS for ELLs®/Alternate ACCESS for ELLs®) is scheduled for January 26-March 6, 2015. Pennsylvania LEAs can access a copy of the 2015 testing timeline from the WIDA website at wida.us. Click on the Consortium tab, and from the drop down menu select Member States and click on PA.

ACCESS for ELLs® Test Facilitator

Any entity who is educating ELLs must designate an ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitator to organize and guide the test administrator training for the ACCESS for ELLs® assessment. LEA test facilitators are also responsible for receiving, securing, distributing and returning test materials. LEA test facilitators will order test booklets, arrange and schedule test sessions and generally oversee all aspects of test administration, in particular making sure that test administration is performed by properly trained test administrators.

ACCESS for ELLs® Test Administrator Eligibility Requirements

ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitators must ensure the following qualifications are met in order for an educator to be eligible to become a certified test administrator for the standard ACCESS for ELLs® (Grades 1-12 and/or Kindergarten):

• The test administrator must be a certified teacher.

• The certified teacher should have knowledge of the levels of WIDA and PA English Language Proficiency Standards (PA ELPS) and have experience teaching English Language Learners.

• A reading specialist or any other certified teacher who meets these criteria is eligible to administer the assessment.

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® Test Administrator Eligibility Requirements

ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitators must ensure the following qualifications are met in order for an educator to be eligible to become a certified test administrator for the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs®:

• Test administrators must be certified teachers.

• Certified teachers must have knowledge of the WIDA levels of English language proficiency and PA English Language Proficiency Standards (PA ELPS) and must have experience teaching English language learners.

• A reading specialist or any certified teacher who meets these criteria is eligible to administer the assessment.

• Paraprofessionals and personal care assistants are not eligible to administer the Alternate ACCESS.

• Certified teachers must be familiar with the student’s communication style.

• Special Education and/or ESL teachers are strongly recommended as test administrators of the Alternate ACCESS.

PA Policy for Test Administrator Certification Requirements

ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitators must ensure the following certification requirements are met in order for an educator to become a certified test administrator for ACCESS for ELLs® (Grades 1-12 and/or Kindergarten) and/or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs®:

• First time test administrators must complete the WIDA training modules and obtain a quiz score of an 80% or higher on those modules assigned by the LEA facilitator.

• All test administrators must retake the speaking module of the training each year.

• All test administrators of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® must retake the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® module of the training each year.

• All test administrators must certify or recertify on the group module, after October 7, 2013 and before January 26, 2015. This is necessary to ensure test administrators are trained on the current administration and delivery of the listening component. Changes were introduced for the 2014 test administration.

• Training requirements for the 2015 test administration must be completed by January 25, 2015.

Enrollment Procedures for Test Facilitators

Test facilitators are responsible to create personal accounts for your LEA’s test administrators. To do this, you must access the online training course for the ACCESS for ELLs® assessment at wida.us. You will need to have test facilitator level access to create personal accounts for your LEA’s test administrators.

If you forgot your password, click on the “Forgot Your Password” button which is located on the login screen on the WIDA web site. A screen will appear that will ask for your email address. After you submit your email address, you should receive an email from the WIDA help desk that includes a link to reset your password.

If you are a newly assigned facilitator or a facilitator for an entity administering the ACCESS for ELLs for the first time, you must contact PDE and provide your AUN number. PDE will provide you test facilitator level access.

From the home page of the WIDA website, login to your account. Click on the green User Management tile to manage personal accounts for your LEA. You may proceed to create accounts for your LEA’s test administrators. Once you submit a completed form for a test administrator, the account will be immediately activated. The individual will receive an email containing his or her personal login information. If they do not see the message, please ask them to check their spam or junk mail folders and/or check with a technical coordinator to be certain that your system is not blocking messages from help@wida.us or widahelp@wcer.wisc.edu.

Enrollment Procedures for Test Administrators

All test administrators should contact their LEA’s ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitator for access to the WIDA online training course. Neither WIDA nor PDE can create personal accounts for test administrators. If you are unsure who your LEA’s test facilitator is, consult a department supervisor or building principal. Once your LEA facilitator sets up your personal login information, you will receive an email containing your personal login information. If you do not receive an email message, please check your spam or junk mail folders and/or check with a technical coordinator to be certain that your system is not blocking messages from help@wida.us or widahelp@wcer.wisc.edu.

If you already have a personal login account, please do not have a new account created. It is important to maintain only one account because your quiz score history may not be reported accurately if you have multiple accounts. If you have changed districts or positions since you last logged in, you can edit your email address and other personal information to reflect that change once you have logged in using your original login and password information.

If you forgot your password, go to the WIDA website at wida.us. Click on the login button and within the login box click on the “Forgot Your Password” button. A screen will appear that will ask for your email address. After you submit your email address, you should receive an email from the WIDA help desk that includes a link to reset your password.

ACCESS for ELLs® Online TRAINING COURSE

The goal of the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® online training course is to prepare educators to serve as test administrators (TA) for the ACCESS for ELLs® Grades 1-12, ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten, and/or Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® assessments. The choice of assessments and modules on which to train is determined by the testing responsibilities assigned by the ACCESS for ELLs® test facilitator. ACCESS for ELLs test facilitators are responsible to maintain evidence of test administrators’ certification to administer the 2015 assessments.

The Overview Module provides background on the ACCESS for ELLs, links to the Test Administration Manuals, and information about accommodations for ELLs with disabilities.

The Group Test Administration Module contains training materials for the Listening, Reading and Writing portions of the test for grades 1-12. This module has its own quiz.

The Speaking Test Administration Module is more complex than the training for the other areas because the TA scores the test during the administration. This requires the TA to be very familiar with the scoring rubric for this component, which requires focused practice with audio samples of speaking test administration. This module applies to grades 1-12 and has its own quiz. TAs giving the Kindergarten test may take this module for scoring reinforcement, but the Kindergarten Test Administration Module, described below, contains comprehensive information and sound files to help prepare TAs specifically for the administration and scoring of the Kindergarten Speaking Test.

The Kindergarten Test Administration Module also constitutes a separate area because all components of that test, not just the speaking component, are individually administered and scored by the test administrator. This module includes sound samples to score and its own quiz.

Alternate ACCESS Test Administration Training Module is also a separate area because all components of the test are individually administered and scored by the test administrator. This module addresses aspects unique to administration of this assessment and includes its own quiz.

The ACCESS for ELLs® training course requires a time commitment of between two to four hours to complete.

Test Security and Non-Disclosure Agreement

Because ACCESS for ELLs® is a secure test, all test administrators are required to fill out and sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. The Non-Disclosure Agreement can be found under the Overview Module within the Training Course options on the left navigation bar of the WIDA web site. It can be downloaded by test daministrators at the time they begin the online training course. It should be signed, dated and submitted the ACCESS for ELLs test facilitator. ACCESS for ELLs test facilitators are required to keep the signed agreement on file.

Additional Information

The following professional development webinars addressing the 2015 administration of ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs were delivered on November 4 and 6, 2014. Archived recordings, power point materials, and supporting documents are available on the ESL Portal at the following link: .

• Administering ACCESS for ELLs Kindergarten

• Administering ACCESS for ELLs Grades 1-12

• Administering Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

• Test Ordering, Administrative, and Security Procedures

If you have questions, please contact Linda Long or Tami Shaffer at ra-lep@.

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