Georgia
Member of the WIDA Consortium since 2005.
Assessments
Georgia uses the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten and WIDA Screener Online Grade 1-12 to identify English learners (ELs). The WIDA ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS assessments are administered to all identified ELs during the annual testing window, typically mid-January through early March.
Testing Dates
| 10/1/26 - 11/17/26 | Test Materials Ordering Available in WIDA AMS – LEAs |
|---|---|
| 10/1/26 - 11/17/26 | LEAs Load Pre-ID/Student Import File into WIDA AMS |
| 11/26/26 - 2/26/27 | WIDA AMS Test Setup Available for Registrations |
| 1/4/27 - 1/6/27 | Districts Receive Test Materials |
| 1/6/27 - 2/26/27 | Test Window |
| 1/4/27 - 2/19/27 | Additional Test Material Ordering Window in WIDA AMS |
| 3/2/27 | Deadline for Shipping Completed Test Materials to DRC - Postmark date |
| 3/24/27 - 4/6/27 | Pre-Reporting Data Validation – LEAs in WIDA AMS |
| 4/27/27 | Districts Receive ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS Reports and Data - Posted in WIDA AMS |
| 5/11/27 - 5/13/27 | Districts Receive Printed ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS Reports |
| 5/13/27 - 5/26/27 | Post-Reporting Data Validation – LEAs in WIDA AMS |
| 5/21/27 | Updated ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS Data Posted in WIDA AMS for Late Return 1 |
| 6/11/27 | Updated ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS Data - Posted in WIDA AMS for SEA and Districts |
Requirements and Resources
See below for state-specific information and resources related to EL assessment, including your state’s WIDA ACCESS Checklist, where you can find each step in the ACCESS testing process from beginning to end. For additional information, see the Georgia WIDA ACCESS page.
WIDA ACCESS Online Checklist WIDA ACCESS Paper ChecklistIdentification and Placement Guidance Georgia State Specific Directions
Standards and Instructional Support
As each school system scales up implementation of the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework, 2020 Edition, several WIDA Self-Paced workshops are essential for building teachers’ and leaders’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions to provide standards-based language instruction for English learners. In addition, Georgia’s SuitCASE platform, the central repository for the digital version of the state’s academic content standards and WIDA’s language development standards, provides teachers with language-to-content standards’ associations that can be used to design language embedded content lessons. Teachers can also access these critical associations by clicking on specific grade-level content unit standards in the GaDOE Inspire platform. Teachers can then peruse a variety of resources, tools, curriculum maps, and lessons with supports for ELs.
Professional Learning
WIDA Core Learning Collection
All educators in the WIDA Consortium have complete access to the self-paced workshops, on-demand videos and resources in the Core Learning Collection. Titles include:
Self-Paced Workshops
- Desarollando el español: las expectativas del lenguaje
- Developing Language for Learning in Mathematics
- Engaging Multilingual Learners in Science: Making Sense of Phenomena
- Evaluaciones del desarrollo del lenguaje a nivel de salón
- Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions
- Let’s Play! Multilingual Children’s Joyful Learning in PreK-3
- Making Language Visible in the Classroom
- Newcomers: Promoting Success through Strengthening Practice
- Reading Comprehension Across Content Areas with Multilingual Learners
- Reframing Education for Long-term English Learners
- Supporting Multilingual Learners With Disabilities in Language and Communication
- Teaching Multilingual Learners Social Studies through Multiple Perspectives
- The WIDA ELD Standards Framework: A Collaborative Approach
On-Demand Videos
- Exploring WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten
- Exploring WIDA ACCESS Online 1–12
- Introduction to the Marco DALE
- Introduction to the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework
- Understanding WIDA ACCESS Score Reports for Instruction
- Understanding WIDA Alternate ACCESS Score Reports
- WIDA Standards Frameworks for Bilingual Educators
Find all the Core Learning Collection offerings in the WIDA Secure Portal.
To obtain a WIDA Secure Portal account, contact the System Testing Coordinator (STC) or ESOL Coordinator in your local school system.