English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA)

Accommodations on Idaho’s English Language Proficiency assessments (WIDA suite of assessments) are only allowed for students with a disability as documented in an IEP or 504 Plan. Decisions around the assignment of accommodations are made by a student’s educational support team (IEP, 504, or Title II of the ADA). They should never be assigned unilaterally by an individual educator outside of the IEP process. For more information on the available accommodations see the WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Manual.

Administrative considerations are supports that are available to any student who might benefit from some personalization of standard test procedures. Administrative considerations must be selected and documented within a student’s Educational Leaning Plan prior to testing. Administrative considerations are planned prior and provided by test administrators, test coordinators, and other support staff. For more information on the available accommodations see the WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Manual.

Although rare, a specific disability may inhibit the meaningful participation in one or more language domains. District teams who identify a disability that precludes participation in specific language domain(s), must submit an ACCESS Participation Rate Appeal during the ACCESS Participation Rate Appeals window (late May – early June) for approval consideration. For a domain exemption appeal to be approved, districts must 1) provide justification for why the disability precludes the student from participating in the specific language domain(s), and 2) provide evidence that supports the justification (e.g. a copy of the student’s IEP or 504 Plan). Districts are encouraged to contact the Idaho Department of Education Assessment and Accountability division to discuss a student’s unique situation and ways to best understand how the student may access an ELP assessment.

New Test Administrators should contact the district’s District Test Coordinator to have an account created for them. New Test Administrators may also contact WIDA Client Services Center at (866) 276-7735 or help@wida.us and request that an account be created for them.

New District Test Coordinators should contact the English Language Proficiency Assessment Coordinator at the Idaho Department of Education to have an account created for them.

District Test Coordinators who require access to WIDA AMS should contact the English Language Proficiency Assessment Coordinator at the Idaho Department of Education to have an account created for them. If you are a Test Administrator, School Test Coordinator, or Technology Coordinator contact the District Test Coordinator to have an account created. If you need additional assistance, call the Data Recognition Corporation at (855) 787-9615 or WIDA@datarecognitioncorp.com.

If you require access to ELMS, contact both the District Test Coordinator and the district’s ISEE Coordinator. Specify to both parties whether you will need the “editor” or “viewer” role.

Test Administrators are required to train and certify for the specific WIDA ELP assessment they intend to administer between July 1 -June 30 annually. All trainings and certification quizzes are available via the WIDA Secure Portal. The following trainings and certification quizzes (80% or higher) are required to be completed for each assessment:

WIDA Screener for Kindergarten

• WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Oral Language and Literacy

WIDA Screener (Onlilne/Paper)

• Screener Writing Quiz Grades 1-5
• Screener Writing Quiz 6-12
• ACCESS & Screener Speaking Quiz Grades 1-5
• ACCESS & Screener Speaking Quiz Grades 6-12

ACCESS for ELLs Online

• ACCESS Online Administration Quiz Grade 1-12

ACCESS for ELLs Paper

• ACCESS Paper Administration Quiz Grades 1-12
• Screener Writing Quiz 6-12
• ACCESS & Screener Speaking Quiz Grades 1-5
• ACCESS & Screener Speaking Quiz Grades 6-12

Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs

• ACCESS Kindergarten Quiz

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

• Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Quiz

Prior to administering WIDA Screener or ACCESS Online, a district’s IT personnel will need to login to the Central Office Services (COS) software application within WIDA AMS to setup, configure, and manage the DRC Insight software. The District Technology Coordinator permission set will need to be assigned to the district’s IT personnel in WIDA AMS prior to being able to perform this task. Once the IT personnel have the appropriate permission set(s), it is recommended to review the Technology Coordinator resources within the WIDA Secure Portal, in addition to reviewing the Technology User Guide.

Headsets are required to record student Speaking responses. It is recommended to check the Headset Specifications prior to testing to ensure responses are recorded.

Districts have 30 calendar days from the child’s enrollment date to screen for EL services.

Details and information on how to setup a WIDA Screener Online session can be found on page 106 of the WIDA AMS User Guide.

1. Test Administrators are required to be certified to score student Writing and Speaking responses and must have the correct permission set assigned to them within WIDA AMS to perform this task. The scoring permission sets can be assigned to users in WIDA AMS through the following steps: WIDA AMS > User Administration > Edit User > Administration Screener Idaho – 20xx-20xx, District, School > Profiles tab > Action > Check the appropriate boxes. Detailed information can be found on page 85 of the WIDA AMS User Guide.
2. Detailed information on accessing and scoring WIDA Screener Online student responses can be found on pages 105 – 126 of the WIDA AMS User Guide. A specific video(s) about this topic under the header, “WIDA AMS Screener Navigation/User Videos” on the “Links” tab

After the screening and scoring of WIDA Screener for Kindergarten or WIDA Screener (Online or Paper), District or School Test Coordinators are required to input the student’s English proficiency level score(s) into the English Learner Management System (ELMS). ELMS will automatically determine student eligibility once the score(s) have been saved and submitted. For more information on how to complete this task, see the English Learner Manual. Note: an ELMS “editor” permission set is required to enter a student’s screener scores into ELMS.