NEWS
1-27-10
If you are administering ACCESS for ELLs, please visit our 2009-10 Testing page to review the list of errata and clarifications pertaining to this year's assessment.
1-22-10
The ACCESS for ELLs Grades 1-12 Test Administration Training DVD (see below) is now available to consortium members for purchase at a price of $10. Please contact the WIDA Help Desk at toll free 1-866-276-7735 if you are unable to view the videos online and would like to buy a DVD.
12-18-09
The new Grades 1-12 ACCESS for ELLs Test Administration Training Video is now live in the training course section of this website. Please login to view it!
12-14-09
WIDA is pleased to announce that the Wyoming Department of Education has joined the WIDA Consortium as its 22nd member state! Read about it in Mary Ann Zehr's Education Week blog.
11-24-09
WIDA is now hiring a Correlation/Alignment Manager! Visit the University job site to review the complete list of requirements and principal duties.
11-17-09
The ACCESS for ELLs Training Tool Kit, including PowerPoint presentations and supporting documents, has now been completely updated for 2009-10. Please login to the training course and click on "Training Tool Kit" to view these materials.
10-27-09
WIDA is pleased to announce that the New Mexico Public Education Department has joined the WIDA Consortium as its 21st member state! To read more about their decision, please visit Education Week's Learning the Language blog.
10-9-09
The 2009-10 ACCESS for ELLs® Test Administration Manuals for Kindergarten and Grades 1-12 have been posted in our online training course. Please login to view and/or print the TA Manuals.
7-27-09
New document posted! A Spanish translation of the Kindergarten W-APT™ Summary Scoring Sheet has been posted in the secure W-APT section of this site. Special thanks to the NC Dept. of Public Instruction for sharing this translation for the benefit of our students' families!
7-15-09
The newest Technical Report covers the Development & Field Test of Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs®. You may view it on the home page of the online training course after you login.
7-7-09
WIDA welcomes our 20th member state, Hawaii! Read about Hawaii's reasons for joining the consortium in Mary Ann Zehr's Education Week blog.
6-1-09
For those who have already or who plan to purchase the WIDA MODEL™ for Kindergarten assessment, please carefully review the new Usage & Scores memo.
4-23-09
The 2009 ACCESS for ELLs Interpretive Guide for Score Reports is now available! New to the Interpretive Guide for 2009: an explanation of the two types of proficiency level scores for Kindergarten.
Welcome to the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) site.
WIDA is a consortium of states dedicated to the design and implementation of high standards and equitable educational opportunities for English language learners.
WIDA educational products and services fall into three main categories: standards and assessments, professional development for educators, and research.
The WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards are recognized worldwide for their innovative approach to measuring academic language development in English. From those standards, various WIDA assessments have been developed to evaluate student progress according to the WIDA proficiency scale, including ACCESS for ELLs® which is administered annually in consortium member states to comply with federal accountability requirements in the United States. In the 2009-10 school year, WIDA expects to assess about 840,000 English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten through grade 12 using ACCESS for ELLs.
The WIDA MODEL™ series of assessments is being developed for schools or systems who are looking for additional measures of language growth. The WIDA MODEL for Kindergarten is currently available to consortium members and non-members (including international schools), and the grades 1-2 and 3-5 versions of the test will be released in 2009, followed by grades 6-8 and 9-12.
WIDA's professional development offerings range from one-day workshops to semester-long graduate courses on topics pertinent to educators of English language learners (ELLs). Topics include curriculum and instruction strategies such as the use of standards and teacher collaboration models, language proficiency assessment, interpretation of score reports, data retreats geared toward developing school improvement plans, and a variety of other subjects that may be customized to meet the needs of local districts.
WIDA's research agenda addresses many hot topics in the world of ELL education. These include: defining and exploring academic language acquisition, implementation of standards and washback effects of assessment, and policy guidance for decision makers. Finally, WIDA offers alignment studies aimed at understanding the relationship between standards and assessments as well as the relationship between English language proficiency standards and academic content standards.
WIDA-related grants are currently exploring and developing new products and services related to formative assessment of English language learners, web-based Mathematics and Science content assessments of students with low English proficiency, an alternate assessment for English language learners with disabilities, and a data analysis/ program evaluation initiative targeting school improvement to better serve ELLs.
Originally established through a federal grant, the WIDA Consortium consists of twenty-two partner states: Alabama, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Secure WIDA Website Contents:
To login to download the W-APT™ or take the ACCESS for ELLs® training course, please click the Login button at the top right of this page.
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