Everything you’ve ever wanted to know: WIDA Screener for Kindergarten

Are you new to WIDA Screener for Kindergarten? Have you administered the test before but can’t remember where to find things like training and test materials? Use this brief reference to all things WIDA Screener for Kindergarten so that you are ready to welcome your young multilingual learners.

Start with your member/state guidelines

Head over to your member/state page (which is in the dropdown menu at the top of the main WIDA website) for state policies and contact information for your state education agency. If your state has an Identification and Placement Guidance document, you'll find that on your state page, too.

A word from WIDA: Before you begin testing, it’s important that you know what your state policy says about screening students. Your state determines things like when and how you use WIDA Screener for Kindergarten.

Get trained

Find training and test materials in the WIDA Secure Portal. In the portal, select Assessment Training. Then, find the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Administration and Scoring course and select Course Details. From there, you can enroll in the course and view and print related resources and test materials.

A word from WIDA: Curious about what it takes to be certified to administer the test? Once you are enrolled in the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Administration and Scoring course, you’ll find that the steps to get certified are listed in a blue welcome box at the top of the course home page.

Print or order test materials

Once you’re in the WIDA Secure Portal and have found the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Administration and Scoring course, select Course Details or Course Resources. From there, you can view, download and print all test materials. Remember: WIDA Screener for Kindergarten is a paper-based test, so you’ll find all materials in the WIDA Secure Portal (that’s it, you don’t have to go anywhere else, like WIDA AMS, to find materials).

A word from WIDA: Don’t want to print your own test materials? You can purchase professionally printed versions of the test materials in the WIDA Store. These are all the same great test materials you find in the portal, except they are professionally printed and shipped directly to you. You can purchase test materials individually and as kits.

Test your students

WIDA Screener for Kindergarten can be used as either a two-domain (Listening and Speaking) or four-domain (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) test. Your state policy tells you which version of the test you’ll use, so if you didn’t visit your member/state page, now is the time to do it!

A word from WIDA: Total test administration time is 40 minutes. However, only students who complete all items and tasks for each of the four language domains are likely to take longer than 30 minutes to test.

Score your tests

Once you’ve finished testing students, it’s time to score the tests. Find the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten Score Calculator on the main WIDA website. Add student scores to the online calculator and it will produce a printable, savable PDF score report. Reminder: Since WIDA Screener for Kindergarten is a paper-based test, you don’t need to use WIDA AMS.

A word from WIDA: For more explanation of scores, proficiency levels, and how they can be used, refer to the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten Interpretive Guide Addendum. Explore our Family Engagement webpage for resources to help you share information about language testing and test scores.

Find help

Still have questions? Contact the WIDA Client Services Center. Our fabulous team of experts (many of whom are former teachers) are available to take your call or email about WIDA Screener for Kindergarten. Head over to the Contact Us webpage to get in touch with a WIDA expert.

A word from WIDA: Want to tackle your question on your own? You can! Find answers in the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Answers to frequently asked questions news article.