ACCESS for ELLs ® Tier Placement, Test Security, and Score Reports

1. ACCESS for ELLs® Tier Placement, Test Security, and Score Reports Emily Evans, Center for Applied LinguisticsJanuary 2007New Jersey Department of Education Developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics

2. Workshop Goals • To review appropriate tier placement for students taking the ACCESS for ELLs® test • To be equipped to handle test operations, such as test security • To understand and begin to interpret ACCESS score reports

3. Workshop Objectives (1) • To review roles of staff in administering the ACCESS for ELLs® test • To learn the guidance for placing students in tiers (A, B, C) of the ACCESS for ELLs® test • To understand test security procedures • How to draft district and school security checklists

4. Workshop Objectives (2) • To understand and interpret ACCESS for ELLs® score reports • Domain, Raw, Scaled, Oral Language, Literacy, Comprehension, and Overall (Composite) Scores • Parent/Guardian Report • Teacher Report • Student Roster Report • School Frequency Report • District Frequency Report • To explore the WIDA Can Do Descriptors • To discuss programmatic implications of ACCESS results

5. Roles & Responsibilities

6. Roles and Responsibilities (1) • District Assessment Coordinator • Serves as main contact with MetriTech, Inc. • Takes Inventory of materials immediately upon arrival and places them in locked storage. • Prepares list of grades to be tested in each school, list of testing materials required by each school, and testing schedule of each school • Coordinates ordering and distribution of test materials to the schools and returning of test materials to MetriTech • Takes inventory of materials distributed and returned • Responsible for training School Assessment Coordinators & Test Administrators on test administration and security • Anticipates and answers questions from school assessment coordinators at your schools

7. Roles and Responsibilities (2) • Test Coordinator (at school-level) • Takes inventory of boxes immediately upon their arrival from the District Assessment Coordinator • Verifies that there are enough testing materials • Requests additional needed testing materials from MetriTech if necessary • Coordinates and distributes test materials in your school; • Takes inventory of materials that are returned to District Test Coordinators • Reminds Test Administrators that all test materials are to be kept secure and confidential

8. Roles and Responsibilities (3) • Test Administrators • Complete online training course and certification through Desire2Learn system (www.uwosh.edu/d2l) • Become familiar with procedures in Test Administration Manual for test accommodations for ELLs with disabilities • Fill out the demographic student information on each test booklet (if pre-ID labels were not ordered) • Administer the components of ACCESS for ELLs® for which you are certified (Kindergarten/Group Components/Speaking)

9. Tier Placement

10. Importance of Tier Placement • Appropriate tier placement maximizes the accuracy and validity of the ACCESS for ELLS® test results.

11. Grade Leveland Tier Structure of ACCESS for ELLs® Test K 1-2 3-5 6-8 9-12 A (adaptive – no tiers) A B C A B C A B C A B C Each letter represents one tiered test form 1 Kindergarten form + (4 grade level clustersx 3 tiers) = 13 test forms Domains Listening — group admin, machine scored Reading — group admin, machine scored Speaking — individual admin, adaptive, TA scored Writing — group admin, rater scored Series 100 (roll-out Spring 2005) 101 (roll-out Spring 2006) 102 (roll-out Spring 2007)

12. Tier A Tier B Tier C Annual ACCESS for ELLs® Tier Alignment with Proficiency Levels 1 2 3 4 5 ENTERING BEGINNING DEVELOPING EXPANDING BRIDGING

13. Tier Placement Guidelines • Use previous test scores, if available • Use teacher judgment, if available • Keep in mind that 70-80% of students will take Tier B • Use reading/writing levels over oral skills • When in doubt, place the student in the higher tier • At intake use W-APT™ or equivalent English language proficiency test

14. Tier Placement “Rule of Thumb” • Assign an ELL the Tier B test unless you have compelling evidence that items in this tier, given their intended proficiency level, would be way too hard or way too easy for the student. • TIER B is appropriate for most ELLs - those who: • have social language proficiency and some, but not extensive, academic language proficiency in English OR • have acquired some literacy in English, though have not yet reached grade level literacy.

15. Profile 1: Fatima Fatima shows developing language skills in most classroom subjects. Despite her academic interests, she is not yet approaching grade-level literacy in the core content areas. Tier B Which tier is most appropriate for Fatima?

16. Profile 2: Mohammed Mohammed is in his first year of instruction in English. He is comfortable with basic conversations outside the classroom, but struggles with even low-level reading tasks. Tier A Which tier is most appropriate for Mohammed?

17. Profile 3: Esther Esther is approaching grade level literacy in the core academic content areas. Her teacher feels she will likely meet the state’s exit criteria for ELL support services by the end of the academic year. Tier C Which tier is most appropriate for Esther?

18. Profile 4: Lily Lily shows developing proficiency in academic English, but does not yet reach grade level. She seems comfortable interacting with her monolingual English-speaking peers. Lily’s teacher characterizes her as a beginner. Which tier is most appropriate for Lily? A/B line  Tier B

19. Profile 5: Byung Byung’s intake tests reveal expanding oral skills in English, as well as grade-level literacy in his native language. His English reading and writing skills are lower. A portfolio of his work provides evidence that his literacy skills are not yet on grade level. Which tier is most appropriate for Byung? B/C line  Tier B

20. New Jersey’s Testing Window

21. Maintaining Test Security

22. Materials Received by the District • District Packing List • Each school’s Packing List • Your state’s schedule • Test Administration Manuals (1 per set of 20 test booklets) • Test Administration Scripts and Speaking Test Picture Cue Booklet/Script (1 per set of 8 booklets ordered per grade-level cluster) • 10% overage of Listening, Reading and Writing test booklets • Pre-ID labels and return instructions

23. District Procedures Upon Receipt of Test Materials • Locate and verify district and school packing lists (in Box 1). • Divide materials by school. • Note discrepancies between the Packing List and material received; record on the Documentation of Materials Not Returned form; fax this form to MetriTech (217-398-5798). • Deliver the test assessment materials to the School Assessment Coordinator. • Create sign-in and sign-out forms for test materials (see sample on next slide). • Order additional materials if necessary using the Additional Materials form; fax this form to MetriTech (217-398-5798).

24. Sample District Security Checklist (Part 1) • DIRECTIONS: The District Test Coordinator must be sure that the School Test Coordinator has signed the Agreement to Maintain Confidentiality before issuing secure test materials. The School Test Coordinator must sign the District Security Checklist form when secure test materials are issued. The School Test Coordinator’s signature confirms that he/she has received the materials listed below and that he/she will require test administrators to sign the school security checklist and the Agreement to Maintain Confidentiality before issuing secure test materials. • School Test Coordinator Signature: ___________________ • Date: ___________________________________________ • NOTE: The District Test Coordinator should keep a copy of all signed forms, including the agreements to maintain security, the District Security checklist, and the School Security checklist. The School Test Coordinator should keep one copy of all completed forms and return the original to the District Test Coordinator with the secure test materials.

25. General Security Guidelines • Only test facilitators, coordinators, and test administrators (or other authorized staff) may handle secure test materials. • Place all secure materials in locked storage. • Do not leave materials unattended before or after testing. • Do not share any specific test information with students prior to or after testing. • Do not copy any test booklets or other secure materials.

26. Sample District Security Checklist (Part 2)

27. Materials for Each School • School Packing List • Grade/Tier Header Sheets • Documentation of Materials Not Returned form • District and School Test Administration Manuals (1 per set of 20 test booklets) • Speaking Tests for each grade-level cluster; Listening, Reading and Writing test booklets and scripts for each grade cluster & tier tested

28. School Procedures Upon Receipt of Test Materials • Divide test booklets into groups for each scheduled testing session. • Test booklets may not be distributed prior to testing session • Students must use Number 2 pencils; the scanning equipment used to score answer documents will not read anything but Number 2 pencil marks. • Place pre-ID labels containing the student demographic information in the box on the front cover of the test booklet. • If pre-ID labels were not ordered or if any label contains incorrect information, the student demographic information must be filled in by hand; school test coordinator will give District Code number and School Code number to test administrators.

29. School Security Checklist ACCESS for ELLs® Check List Spring 2007 District:________________ School:___________________ DIRECTIONS: The School Test Coordinator must make sure that the test administrator has signed the Agreement to Maintain Confidentiality before issuing secure test materials. The test administrator must date and sign this form when secure test materials are issued. The School Test Coordinator must sign this form when secure test materials are returned. NOTE: The School Test Coordinator should keep one copy of all completed forms and return the original to the District Test Coordinator with the secure test materials. Sample School Security Checklist (Part 1)

30. School Security Checklist (Part 2)

31. Score Reports

32. ACCESS for ELLs® Interpretive Guide • The ACCESS for ELLs® Interpretive Guide for Score Reports (M. Gottlieb, April 2006) contains detailed information on the use of scores from this assessment. • Recommendation: Download the full document (34 pages) from www.wida.us.

33. ACCESS Component Test Weights as Percentage of Overall Composite Score

34. Scores Received: Student Level Each student receives a scale score and a proficiency level for: • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing • Scale scores are out of a possible 100 – 600 • Scale scores are converted to proficiency scores using the cuts established during standard setting • Proficiency level scores range from 1.0 – 6.0

35. Scores Received: Student Level (cont’d.) Each student also receives a scale score and a proficiency level for Oral Language, Literacy, Comprehension, and Overall Composite.

36. ACCESS for ELLs®Score Reports There are 5ACCESS Score Reports: • Teacher Report • Parent/Guardian Report • Student Roster Report • School Frequency Report • District Frequency Report

37. What does the Teacher Report tell us? The Teacher Report contains individual data for onestudent.

38. TeacherReport Report for one individual student

39. Teacher Report (cont’d.)

40. Teacher Report (cont’d.) Raw Scores by Standard

41. What does the Parent Report tell us? The Parent Report, like the Teacher Report, contains individual student data.

42. Parent Report Interpretive Guide and Parent/Guardian Report Translations available on the WIDA website (www.wida.us) Special thanks to Milwaukee and Wausau Public Schools for several of the translations!

43. Parent Report (cont’d.) The Parent Report is currently available in: Polish Portuguese Russian Serbian (Cyrillic) Somali Spanish Swahili Traditional Chinese Urdu Amharic Bosnian-Croatian Creole French Gujarati Hmong Korean Lao More translations coming soon!

44. Parent Report (cont’d.) Parent letter template in English, Spanish, and Hmong that the school can customize - available at www.wida.us May 2006 Dear Parent or Guardian, This past winter, ELL students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade participated in the administration of the ACCESS for ELLs® language proficiency test. ACCESS now provides a standardized measurement of academic language proficiency for English Language learners (ELL) students throughout the state of Wisconsin. With this information, we will also be able to monitor individual ELL student progress on an annual basis. Enclosed you will find your child’s results on ACCESS. The Parent/Guardian Reports provides information about your child’s English Language Proficiency Level. This information is for you to review and keep. If you have any questions regarding these tests or the information that is being sent to you about how your child did on these tests, please contact your child’s ELL teacher, building principal, or me. Sincerely, __________________________________ (School ELL coordinator, principal, or teacher)

45. What does the Student Roster Report tell us? The Student Roster Report lists the scale scores and proficiency levels for a group (or class) of students.

46. Student Roster Report

47. What does the School Frequency Report tell us? The School Frequency Report lists the numbers of students tested in each domain of ACCESS by grade level within a school.

48. School Frequency Report

49. What does the District Frequency Report tell us? The District Frequency Report lists the numbers of students tested in each domain of ACCESS by grade level within a district.

50. District Frequency Report