Resources/Announcements

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WIDA Focus Bulletins

WIDA offers a series of bulletins on topics of interest to educators of English language learners.

The PDF documents below are archived versions of WIDA's Focus Bulletins, available on a variety of topics related to ELL instruction and assessment.

2009

Focus on Formative Assessment (September)

The September 2009 edition offers an overview of formative assessment of academic language. It discusses the importance of having a balanced assessment system in place for English language learners that goes beyond standardized testing. Educators are given examples of formative assessment tasks and tools, and introduced to how to use assessment feedback to guide language instruction.

Focus on Language and Culture (May)

This issue explores some variables that can affect the academic achievement of English language learners.  Our purpose in exploring these variables is to find areas where we can connect learning and language as we plan and deliver instruction and assessment to our students.  We start with two from a long list of variables: culture and home language, hoping to inspire you to learn more about them through the resources offered in this issue.

Focus on Growth (March)

This issue focuses on measurement of student progress using standardized test scores of English language proficiency. It provides an overview of different types of test scores on ACCESS for ELLs in particular and explains how districts can compare their students' and district's scores to researched patterns of average growth. Graphs of growth at each grade level are included, along with space for teachers and administrators to work on a plan to address the need for continued progress.

Powerpoint presentation on Growth (for use with newsletter as a handout)

Powerpoint handout (3 slides per page with space for notes)

Higher Education Package for Instructors of Pre-Service ESL Teachers

For $7.50, WIDA currently offers a CD-ROM which contains the following:

  • Sample ACCESS for ELLsŪ assessment items (K-12)
  • Kindergarten Test Administration Manual
  • Grades 1-12 Test Administration Manual
  • 2 Power Point presentations used by our professional development staff to train educators about WIDA and ACCESS for ELLsŪ test administration

To order this CD-ROM, please send an email to help@wida.us which includes your name, the name of your institution of higher education, and your shipping address and phone number. To pay by credit card, please contact our Help Desk at toll free 1-866-276-7735 with your credit card number and expiration date ready. WIDA accepts Visa or Mastercard. To pay by check or purchase order, please fax to 608-890-2637 or mail to:

WIDA Consortium at WCER
Attn: Pakou Vang
1025 W. Johnson Street, MD #23
Madison, WI 53706