ACCESS Test Practice and Sample Items

Familiarize students with the kind of content they will encounter on the test and give them a chance to practice the different question types
Completing the practice items can be especially helpful for students who are new to the Speaking test, but keep in mind that the first thing students do when they take the real test is complete these same practice items.
ACCESS for ELLs Online
Give students the chance to learn about the test platform, practice answering the type of questions they’ll see on the test, and get to know the features and tools built in to the test platform. Modify the suggested scripting to fit the needs of your students.
Sample Items
Sample items give students a chance to practice answering the type of questions they will see on the test at their grade-cluster level, and an opportunity to use the features and tools built in to the test platform. Suggested scripting is provided to help guide students through the sample items. Modify the suggested scripting to fit the needs of your students.
Suggested Sample Item Script: ACCESS for ELLs Online
Paper-format Writing Sample Items
Students in grades 1–3 always take the Writing test in a pencil-and-paper format, even though they complete the other domain tests in the online test platform.
- Grade 1, Tier A: Indoor Play
- Grade 1, Tier B/C: Making Bird Feeders
- Grades 2-3, Tier A: Flowers at the Park
- Grades 2-3, Tier B/C: Our Town
Test Demo
A test demo for each grade-level cluster shows students how to navigate different features of the test.
Test Practice
When students take the test, they start with practice items that help familiarize them with the test platform. Students may go through these practice items as many times as they like prior to testing day. Keep in mind that the practice items are not representative of the difficulty of scored test items – the test practice is simply a chance for students to use the test platform.
ACCESS for ELLs Online Test Practice (about 5-10 minutes)
ACCESS for ELLs Paper
Give students a chance to practice answering the type of questions they’ll see and hear on the test.
- Grade 1
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- Grade 2
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- Grade 3
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ACCESS for ELLs Braille Accommodation
Give students a chance to practice answering the type of questions they’ll get on the test. Braille sample items with graphics are available as images; sample items without graphics are available in .brf (Braille ready format) files and can be downloaded and embossed. BRF files will need to be unzipped before use. Physical copies of these materials will be provided in all braille kits.
Additionally, there are four sample item user guides for Braille designed to orient test administrators to the sample items. The user guides are separated into grades 1-3, grades 4-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. Select the user guide that is most appropriate for your chosen sample items.
- Grades 1-3
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User Guide for Braille Grades 1-3
Items without graphics (download this zipped file)
Graphic items (Writing)
- Grades 4-5
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User Guide for Braille Grades 4-5
Items without graphics (download this zipped file)
Graphic items:
- Grades 6-8
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User Guide for Braille Grades 6-8
Items without graphics (download this zipped file)
Graphic items:
- Grades 9-12
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User Guide for Braille Grades 9-12
Items without graphics (download this zipped file)
Graphic items: