FAQs: ACCESS for ELLs Training
How will training for ACCESS for ELLs be conducted?
WIDA sponsored administrator training for ACCESS for ELLs is through an online course developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics and hosted on WIDA's web-based learning platform. In addition, most WIDA states have or will also offer face-to-face train-of-trainers workshops for district administrators and coordinators. For more information about registering for online training or to find out about additional opportunities in a specific WIDA member state, contact your state's educational agency.
When will training for the ACCESS for ELLs take place?
Online training for test administrators in a given state will be available at least one month prior to the opening of its test window.
How long does the test administrator training take?
The test administrator training is in three parts: Test coordination and administration of the group administered sections (listening, reading and writing)—approximately 1.5 hours
Speaking test administration—approximately 1.5 hours
Kindergarten—approximately 20 minutes.
Do all test administrators (TAs) need to take the online training?
Yes. Everyone who will administer the test must do the sections of the online course and take the corresponding quizzes that pertain to the sections for the test that they will be administering.
Do all test administrators (TAs) need to take all three parts of the online training?
Please check with your state coordinator first since some states and districts may require TAs take all quizzes, but generally TAs need to take only those parts of the training that are relevant for them. For example, if Mr. Brown will only be administering the group portions of the test, he will need to take only Part I (test coordination and group administered sections) of the training. If his colleague, Ms. Cho, will be administering the speaking as well, she will need to do Parts I and II (speaking). It is highly recommended that all test administrators take Part I.
Can I do the online training course more than once?
Yes. Once you have been registered for the online course and receive a password, you can take all or part of it as many times as you like. Many test administrators might find it particularly helpful to listen to the speaking samples multiple times prior to administering the test themselves.
Registering Test Administrators
I am a district facilitator for ACCESS for ELLs. What is the first thing I should do to get my test administrators (TAs) trained?
In some states, it is your responsibility to enroll the users via our Account Creator 
. These states include Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
In other states, users can enroll themselves using a state login that can be distributed by you and/or the state facilitators. States that handle enrollment in this way include Alabama, Illinois, Maine (temporarily), New Jersey, North Carolina, and North Dakota (temporarily).
Finally, some states handle all enrollment at the state educational agency. Please contact your SEA if you live in Kentucky, Oklahoma or Vermont. Maine and North Dakota will use this system following their periods of open enrollment in the fall of 2008.
If you are not sure how accounts are created in your state, please contact the WIDA Help Desk by emailing help@wida.us and request the enrollment instructions for your state.
Is the ACCESS training account the same as the W-APT account?
No, the training course and W-APT accounts are independent of each other. Each individual has his or her own unique login for the ACCESS online training course while each district is given one login for W-APT. Your ACCESS training course account username will be derived from your name, whereas the W-APT username contains a district indicator.
I am a district facilitator for ACCESS for ELLs. How do I delete previously registered test administrators (TAs) whose information is incorrect?
In your role as a district facilitator, you do not have the ability to delete the accounts. If you provide us with the account information you'd like added or deleted through WIDA Help, we can take care of it for you. Each individual user also has the ability to modify his or her own account information (i.e. email address, district affiliation, position type, password) by logging in and clicking on "My Account" in the green menu on the left side of the page.
I have other questions regarding registering in the online course that are not addressed above.
Please contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance.
Login to the online ACCESS for ELLs training course
I have never received the login information for the online course. What should I do?
If you think that you have been registered but have not received your enrollment email, please check your spam or junk mail folders. Meanwhile, make sure that you have your spam filter inactivated or ensure that your filters will accept mail from help@wida.us and widahelp@wcer.wisc.edu. If you created your own account but did not receive the enrollment email, you can still try logging in with the username and password you submitted. If that doesn't work, contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance.
I have my username and password, but the system still does not allow me to log in.
Make sure you are logging into the correct website (www.wida.us). If it does not work, contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance.
I lost my username and/or password. What should I do?
Users may look up their passwords by typing their email addresses into our password lookup form. This system will generate an email to you which contains your usernams and password. If this system does not work for any reason, please email us at help@wida.us with your first, last name, district name, school email address, and phone number. We will contact you to remind you of your login information within one business day.
I have other questions regarding login that are not addressed above.
Please contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance
Online Training Materials, Quizzes, and Certification
I tried listening to the speaking samples, but they do not play.
If you cannot hear the speaking samples even under the "Content" menu, it is more than likely your computer is not set up or equipped properly for the playing of the sound files. Please have your tech person take a look at it.
I am a test administrator for ACCESS for ELLs. I passed the quizzes, but where can I get my certificate or where can I print out the grade reports?
If you take the quizzes, you will have a grade. If you score 80 or higher, you are certified to administer the ACCESS for ELLs. If you need tangible evidence, you can go to the "My Quizzes" section of the online course under "My ACCESS Training" and print out the quiz scores. This page can be printed as proof that you successfully completed the training, or you may click the button at the top of the page that says "View Certificate." You may also print the certificate showing the dates on which you passed each quiz. Illinois educators who have successfully completed the quizzes and who registered with their IEIN will have their certification noted in the ECS system within a few weeks.
I am a district facilitator for ACCESS for ELLs. Can I print out a list of the test administrators (TAs) who passed the quizzes?
Yes. District facilitators have a menu item under "My ACCESS Training" called "My District's Quiz Grades." You can print off the whole page, download the information as a spreadsheet, or search for them individually by name and then check their quiz grades and print their certificates. Otherwise, you can ask teachers to print out a copy of their quiz grades when they have finished and give a hard copy to you for your records. Teachers can do this by either printing off the "My Quizzes" page, or by printing the certificate.
Do the test administrators (TAs) initially trained last year (or earlier) need to be retrained this year?
If TAs have already been trained to administer ACCESS for ELLs, they do not need to be retrained unless an individual state or district requries it. We do strongly recommend that anyone administering the speaking section review the sample sound files to "calibrate" themselves and review the rubrics, but they needn't redo quizzes. It is, of course, an excellent idea to review the Test Administration Manual prior to administration.
All Kindergarten test administrators MUST have passed the Kindergarten training AFTER July 1, 2008 in order for their training certification to remain valid. This is because the Kindergarten test was redesigned and released in its current format in Fall 2008.
Where can I download the Nondisclosure Agreement for the ACCESS for ELLs test?
The NDA link is located in the "Overview Module."
I am a district facilitator for ACCESS for ELLs and attempt to set up a testing schedule. Where can I find the sample schedule forms?
You can find these in two places within the online course: under the heading of "Test Management Module" you will see links to these forms; and within the Test Administration Manual.
I have other questions regarding the course content that are not addressed above.
Please contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance.
Macintosh Users
I have a Macintosh computer. Can I take the course with my computer?
Yes. If a particular system or browser seems to be causing repeated problems, please let us know so that we can attempt to address the issue.
I have other questions about using my Mac that are not addressed above.
Please contact us through WIDA Help to request assistance.