WIDA Annual Board Meeting, June 25-27, 2007

The annual consortium meeting was attended by representatives from each of our 15 member states and partner organizations--CAL, MetriTech, and WCER. In addition to the regular agenda focusing on testing, professional development, standards, and research, we convened four pre-meeting workgroups and four discussion groups during the meeting. These groups resulted in valuable, concrete suggestions for WIDA. The following is a brief report on each of these groups.

The Accommodations group reviewed current ACCESS for ELLs® accommodations policies and procedures. For the immediate future, the group recommended providing more in-depth explanation of the policy and specific accommodations, particularly with regards to Braille. Looking ahead, the group recommends that WIDA take a leadership role in exploring the use of accommodations for ELLs with disabilities, beginning with a study of current accommodations practice on ACCESS.

Sam Krug (MetriTech) and SEA Harriette Herrera (IL) offered their expertise in the meetings

The Demographics and Score Reports group examined the current materials and made specific recommendations that WIDA is exploring including: clarification of several demographic variables, especially "Length of time in US School," the addition of numerical scores on the Parent Report (to be displayed next to the bars for each score) and the addition of a graph with confidence bands on the Teacher Report.

The Kindergarten group recommended that WIDA produce a document that describes multiple criteria for ELL eligibility (and possibly, exit), what key components each criterion should have according to research and best practice, and how each criterion might be interpreted. The five criterion identified include: a home language survey; a family interview protocol or questionnaire; the W-APT™; a kindergarten readiness screener; and a kindergarten readiness observation protocol. This document is currently in progress.

The Research group began by reviewing the 2005 list of WIDA Board-recommended research projects, discussing priorities and practicalities, which Gary Cook presented to the full Board. This list of priorities also informed a more in-depth discussion of research held June 28. As a result, WIDA now has a specific, multifaceted and active research agenda for both short term and long term projects.

WIDA Executive Director Tim Boals and SEAs Jim McCobb (VT) and Bethany Nickerson (DC)

During the discussion groups held June 27, participants reviewed preliminary AMAO-related data analysis and shared ideas and questions about AMAOs. Consequently, WIDA is preparing AMAO recommendations based on analysis of ACCESS or ELLs® data. Other groups shared professional development ideas and initiatives, debated concepts regarding the W-APT™ and other local assessment ideas; and talked about ELLs with disabilities.

Both the workshops and the discussion groups provided WIDA members opportunities to discuss relevant topics of interest, and they yielded valuable recommendations and directives for WIDA. Thank you to all who participated!

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