News

Beginning in 2021, WIDA launched a multi-year effort to thoughtfully redesign Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs. The result is the new WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten that became available in the 2025-2026 school year.

TESOL International Association and WIDA are collaborating to create a webinar series designed to support educators, researchers and leaders who serve multilingual learners. The three-part webinar series titled “Assessment in Action: Supporting Multilingual Learners Through Data and Practice” will explore how research-backed assessment practices can generate meaningful insights that strengthen instruction and improve outcomes from multilingual learners.

Long-term English learners (LTELs) are multilingual students who have received English support for over five years without reaching proficiency. Educators can better support them by understanding individual stories, integrating language and content learning, and fostering collaboration to promote equitable academic opportunities. 

We have four new free WIDA Webinars scheduled for 2026. These are free professional learning opportunities that span a wide range of topics related to multilingual learners. You can register to attend in real time or to get notified once the recording is posted.

This article offers four strategies to help multilingual learners build reading comprehension across content areas: explore text purpose and structure, connect to students’ home literacy experiences, engage in text-based discussions and teach strategic reading practices through modeling and reflection.

Are you new to WIDA ACCESS? Have you administered an ACCESS test before but can’t remember where to find things like training, test prep and test materials? Look no further than this brief reference to all things ACCESS!

At WIDA, we consistently strive to make our products and services more accessible. It’s important to ensure all multilingual learners have the opportunity to fully demonstrate their skills. For multilingual learners who are blind or have low vision, this means providing assessments that are not only accessible but also equitable and valid. That’s where WIDA ACCESS Braille comes in.

The 2025 WIDA Annual Conference was a celebration of innovation, learning and connection among educators dedicated to multilingual learners. This year’s theme, “Igniting Innovation for Multilingual Learners,” and WIDA’s bright future within the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education came to life across keynotes, sessions and conversations. 

WIDA is proud to welcome the state of New York to the WIDA Consortium. This major milestone marks an exciting step forward for multilingual learners, educators and families across the state and across the country.

WIDA has partnered again with Centro Hispano of Dane County for their Escalera summer internship program. Centro Hispano is a nonprofit in Madison, WI that supports Latinx communities in Madison and surrounding areas. WIDA was lucky to have Sherling Garcia Vargas as the 2025 summer intern.