ACCESS - Assessing
Comprehension and Communication in English
State-to-State for English Language Learners
ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 – Online Test
Starting January 11th, 2016 all of the students in the ELL program, including students whose parents refused ELL services, are required to take the ACCESS test. In 2015-2016, the WIDA Consortium will begin administration of the new summative assessment from grades 1–12 called ACCESS for ELLs 2.0. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is aligned with the WIDA English Language Development Standards and assesses each of the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
This online assessment will replace the earlier paper-based assessment, ACCESS for ELLs, although a paper-based assessment will continue to be available according to each state's guidelines.
The online test is an adaptive test, meaning that students progress through the test based on their performance on previous folders (groups of items), and the test engine determines the appropriate items the student see next.
While the test is adaptive, there are still tiered forms for the Speaking and Writing domains. The appropriate tiered form automatically loads in the test platform based on students’ performance in the earlier domains. In cases where a student handwrites his or her responses for the online Writing test, Test Administrators can view a report indicating the appropriate tier form to administer.
District 109 will conduct the testing as follows:
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is still paper based and administered one-on-one • Not tiered; all students take the same test
• All domains (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing) are tested twice, once within the expository section and once within the narrative section
• Speaking and Listening are presented together, alternating between a listening task followed by a speaking task
• All sections are adaptive, meaning items are presented until the student reaches his/her performance level
• Scored locally by the Test Administrator
Grades 1-3
Listening, Reading and Speaking will be computer based Writing is paper based (no keyboarding required) Students with IEPs will take the paper version Grades 4-6
All domains will be computer based Students with IEPs will take the paper version
How does a student exit the program?
Effective January 1, 2014, a student must obtain an overall composite proficiency level of a 5.0 as well as a reading proficiency level of a 4.2 and a writing proficiency level of a 4.2 on the ACCESS for ELLs to be considered English language proficient.
More Information about ACCESS can be found on www.wida.us