State Assessment
A suite of secure, large-scale, summative English language proficiency assessments
ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states. WIDA provides this flexible suite of tests because we know that no single test is suitable for all students.
ACCESS for ELLs
- Is available to WIDA Consortium member states as a primary benefit of membership
- Is administered to kindergarten through grade 12 students who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs)
- Is given annually to monitor students' progress in learning academic English
- Meets U.S. federal requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for monitoring and reporting ELLs’ progress toward English language proficiency
- Is anchored in the WIDA English Language Development Standards
- Assesses the four language domains of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing
The Multi-State Alternate Assessment evolved directly from the research that supported its predecessor, the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) Alternate Assessments. In late 2010, NCSC began development of the NCSC Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The foundations for the NCSC AA-AAS had been laid the previous decade, through a series of collaborative research-to-practice projects that allowed the collaborating states and national centers to understand better how to measure academic achievement for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Research completed in these previous projects meant that the state leaders and national center experts who shaped the NCSC project design process and work plan were able to build on a research-based foundation but were driven by issues and concerns that were still unanswered in 2010.
State Assessment and the Law
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation's national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.
ESSA Highlights
ESSA includes provisions that will help to ensure success for students and schools. Below are just a few. The law:
- Advances equity by upholding critical protections for America's disadvantaged and high-need students.
- Requires—for the first time—that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers.
- Ensures that vital information is provided to educators, families, students, and communities through annual statewide assessments that measure students' progress toward those high standards.
- Helps to support and grow local innovations—including evidence-based and place-based interventions developed by local leaders and educators.
- Sustains and expands this administration's historic investments in increasing access to high-quality preschool.
- Maintains an expectation that there will be accountability and action to effect positive change in our lowest-performing schools, where groups of students are not making progress, and where graduation rates are low over extended periods of time.
The Virgin Islands Department of Education utilizes the Kaplan Learning Company, i-Ready, Access for EL's and Smarter Balanced to ensure students receive the most comprehensive resources and assessment tools available.
Assessments Focus on Real-World Skills Connected to Classroom Instruction and Learning.
- Assessments reflect what students are learning and practicing in the classroom on a daily basis
- Aligned to the Common Core Standards
- Summative and Formative Assessments measure student performance and progress.
- Assessment scores, report cards, teacher feedback, classroom work and more provide a holistic view of student achievement across the continuum of grade levels.
What do Assessments measure:
Assessments measure the performance of students in two core literacy domains that form the foundation for students’ readiness for college and the workplace - English language arts (ELA) and mathematics - at core grades in upper elementary, middle, and high school.
Every year, students in grades 3-8 and 11 take the Smarter Balanced assessment in these areas. These tests match the content and skills taught in the classroom and measure real-world skills.
The assessment has two parts, a computer-adaptive part and a performance task. The assessment produces scores on a scale that have different starting and end points in different grades but is connected across grades through design to allow for capturing progress.
Understanding Scores:
The Smarter Reporting System displays claim scores for the summative assessments and ICAs. A claim is a summary statement about the knowledge and skills students will be expected to demonstrate on the assessment related to an aspect of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The ELA Claims are Reading, Writing, Listening, and Research. The mathematics claims are Concepts and Procedures, Problem Solving, Communicating Reasoning, and Modeling/Data Analysis.
Parents can view their students scores through the parent portal once scores are released.