Assessments for English Language Learners (ELLs)

Click on a main topic to go to that section:

• Background
• English Language Proficiency Assessments (W-APT™ and ACCESS for ELLs®)
• Content Knowledge Assessments (WKCE/WAA-SwD)
• Growth Excel Analysis Tool for English Language Learners
• Additional Resources
• Assessment Services Supporting ELLs through Technology Systems (ASSETS)

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Background

Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was enacted to ensure that limited English proficient (LEP) students, including immigrant children and youth, develop English proficiency and meet the same academic content and academic achievement standards that other children are expected to meet. The following assessments are designed to meet the requirements of the NCLB accountability goals, Wisconsin statutes, and to provide students, parents, teachers, and schools with information about how students are progressing in relation to both the Wisconsin Academic Standards and World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English Language Proficiency Standards.

There are two types of assessments in which ELLs participate: English language proficiency and content knowledge. To assess English language proficiency, students participate in the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT)™, Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs®) or, beginning in Fall 2012, the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs™. The statewide system for assessing content knowledge includes the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE) and the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (WAA-SwD).

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English Language Proficiency Assessments

W-APT™
The W-APT™ measures the English language proficiency of students who have recently arrived in the U.S. or in a particular district. It can help to determine whether or not a child is in need of English language instructional services, and if so, at what level.

ACCESS for ELLs®
ACCESS for ELLs® is a large-scale test that first and foremost addresses the English language development standards that form the core of Wisconsin’s approach to instructing and testing English language learners. These standards incorporate a set of model performance indicators (PIs) that describe the expectations educators have of ELL students at five different grade level clusters and in five different content areas.

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs™
The WIDA Consortium is developing the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® to facilitate the inclusion of ELLs with significant cognitive disabilities in state accountability systems. In Wisconsin, The Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® will be available during the 2012-13 ACCESS for ELLs® test cycle.

• Memo: Introduction of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs® Assessment
• Memo: Implementation to Alternative ACCESS for ELLs® Assessment

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Content Knowledge Assessments

ESEA requires that all students participate in statewide assessment to be used for accountability. Federal regulations provide some flexibility related to the assessment and accountability for recently arrived ELL students only (See 34 CFR § 200.6 (b) (4)).

Districts will need to first determine if the student has recently arrived in the United States before making assessment and accountability decisions. Recently arrived refers to a student that has attended a U.S. school for less than 12 months.

A recently arrived ELL may be exempt from one required administration of the state’s reading assessment. Recently arrived students must participate in all other content areas, with or without accommodations.

Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE)

The WKCE is administered to provide information about student achievement and allow school district staff to use test results to improve educational programs. It is administered for students in grades 3-8 and 10 for reading and mathematics. Additionally in grades 4, 8, and 10 science, language arts, writing, and social students are also administered.

WKCE Translation Accommodation The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will provide translation accommodations for the annual WKCE administration. Bilingual word lists, directions read by the test administrator, and released practice items will all be translated in Spanish and Hmong. In addition, the translated written scripts of the test items in the mathematics, science, and social studies tests will be provided in Spanish.

As in previous years, use of the translation accommodation is optional – the school or district should decide whether a student would benefit from translation support. If translation support is needed for a Spanish-speaking ELL student, the DPI written translations should be used. For all other language groups, including Hmong, districts have the option to provide translation accommodations using qualified translators. DPI recommends that educators also consult the Assessment Accommodations Matrix in order to create the most appropriate testing situation for their students.

Districts who serve students who speak languages other than Spanish may use qualified translators to provide oral translation support to students.

• WKCE Translation Accommodation Test Materials – Test administrators need to request copies of all translated test materials from their District Assessment Coordinator (DAC).
  
  
• WKCE Translation Accommodation Training - Provides guidance for DACs and other district personnel who will be using the translation accommodation.
  
  
  WKCE Spanish Translation Accommodation Released Math Items:
  • Math - Grade 3
  • Math - Grade 6
  • Math - Grade 10
  
  
  WKCE Hmong Translation Accommodation Released Math Items:
  • Math - Grade 3
  • Math - Grade 6
  • Math - Grade 10
  
  
• Guidelines for Use of Translators and Interpreters - Provides information about the use of translators and interpreters for ELL students who speak a language other than Spanish or Hmong.
  
  
• WKCE Translation Accommodation Confirmation of Destruction Form - This form must be completed when destroying all WKCE Translation Accommodation Materials.
  
  
• Bilingual Word List - A bilingual word list is provided as an accommodation to both Spanish and Hmong ELLs. Students can use the content specific word lists, which include commonly used vocabulary and difficult to translate words.
  
  
  • Spanish Bilingual Word List
    Spanish Bilingual Math Word List
    Spanish Bilingual Science Word List
    Spanish Bilingual Social Studies Word List
    
    
  • Hmong Bilingual Word List
    Hmong Bilingual Math Word List
    Hmong Bilingual Science Word List
    Hmong Bilingual Social Studies Word List
    
    
  
  

Wisconsin Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (WAA-SwD)

The WAA-SwD is administered to any student with significant cognitive disabilities when an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines that a student is unable to participate in the WCKE, even with accommodations. Like the WKCE, it is also administered to provide information about student achievement and allow school district staff to use test results to improve educational programs. It is administered for students in grades 3-8 and 10 for reading and mathematics. Additionally in grades 4, 8, and 10 science, language arts, writing, and social students are also administered. For ELLs who are also students with disabilities, districts may provide translation accommodations.

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Growth Excel Analysis Tool for English Learners

The Growth Excel Analysis Tool (GREAT) for English learners is an Excel spreadsheet that allows an educator to plot one year of growth for an individual student on ACCESS for ELLs®, and to compare that growth to other English learners in Wisconsin or throughout the WIDA consortium. Comparing the growth of an individual student to the growth other students provides normative information that can help with questions about whether a student or group of students has made “normal” or “average” progress in the past year.

The data used in the spreadsheet for the growth norms is from the 2009-10 to 2010-11 school years in Wisconsin, and the 2008-09 to 2009-10 school years in all the WIDA states. As new data become available, the spreadsheet will be updated.

GREAT is intended as a guide, and as with all academic measures should be combined with other information about students, both in the year in question and over time, to create a fuller picture of student progress.

A PowerPoint introduction to GREAT is available with detailed instructions on using the spreadsheet. For more information about GREAT or ACCESS, or to help us improve this tool, please contact Audrey Lesondak (audrey.lesondak@dpi.wi.gov) at (608) 267-5153.

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Additional Resources:

ESEA Information Update Bulletins:

• Initial Identification and Placement of English Language Learners - This bulletin describes the required steps for identification and placement of limited-English proficient (LEP) students in programs for English language learners (ELLs).
  
  
• Bulletin 07.02 Procedures for Exiting English Language Learners Fully English Language Proficient - This bulletin describes the process to reclassify a student's English language proficiency as fully English proficient.
  
  
• Bulletin 08.01 Two-Year Monitoring Requirements for Former English Language Learners - This bulletin describes district requirements when former limited English proficient (FLEP) students achieve English language proficiency.
  

Articles on the Use of State Test Results: A Series for Policy-Makers and the General Public. Using Disaggregated Data to Compare State Test Performance of Districts with Dissimilar LEP Populations. January 2001.

For questions about this information, contact oeamail@dpi.wi.gov

Last updated on 4/13/2012 10:45:52 AM