Colorado
Member of the WIDA Consortium since 2012.
Assessments
Colorado uses Kindergarten W-APT and WIDA Screener (Online or Paper) for Grades 1-12 to assist in the identification of students who may be English learners (ELs). ACCESS for ELLs is administered to students who are identified as ELs, NEP or LEP during the annual testing window, which runs for five weeks, opening on the second Monday in January.
Testing Dates
| 10/21/20-11/6/20 | Test materials ordering via AMS (LEAs) |
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| 12/1/20-3/18/21 | WIDA AMS test setup available for test sessions |
| 12/17/20 | Districts receive test materials |
| 12/17/20-3/5/21 | Additional test materials ordering window in AMS |
| 1/11/21-3/12/21 | Test Window |
| 3/17/21 | Deadline for shipping completed test materials to DRC |
| 5/25/21 | Districts receive reports – Online |
| TBD | Districts receive reports – Printed |
Requirements and Resources
See below for state-specific information and resources related to EL assessment, including your state’s ACCESS for ELLs Checklist, where you can find each step in the ACCESS testing process from beginning to end.
ACCESS for ELLs Online Checklist Identification and Placement Guidance
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State Testing Requirements
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All English Learners (NEP and LEP), including students with disabilities, must participate in the state English language proficiency assessment system. The educational team (IEP, 504, or EL), which must include the parents, determines whether the student will take ACCESS for ELLs with or without accommodations or, for a student with the most significant cognitive disability, meets the participation requirements for the alternate assessment. According to federal requirements, there must be evidence of alignment between a student’s educational plan, instruction, and the accommodations provided on any of the state assessments, as well as any determinations for students to participate in Alternate ACCESS. Three participation options exist:
- The student participates in ACCESS for ELLs without an accommodation.
- The student participates in ACCESS for ELLs with an accommodation*.
- The student participates in Alternate ACCESS for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Note: It is not appropriate or ethical to give the Alternate ACCESS to students who do not qualify to take the assessment.
*Accommodations are practices and procedures that provide equitable access during instruction and assessment for students who have a documented need, including students with a disability and English learners. In order to use accommodations on ACCESS for ELLs testing, accommodations must be determined by the student’s educational team documented in the student’s IEP or 504 plan.
Standards and Instructional Support
New ELD Standards Resource Documents
Colorado will not begin rolling out the 2020 Edition of ELD standards resource documents until the 21-22 school year. Those who are interested may visit the WIDA ELD Standards Framework webpage to download the 2020 Edition or learn about any standards related professional learning opportunities that WIDA is offering.
- To download the 2020 Edition of supporting resources, visit the WIDA ELD Standards Framework webpage
- To order printed booklets, visit the WIDA Store
Professional Learning
Colorado’s Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education offers Professional Learning Opportunities.
Please see the Colorado Department of Education’s website to learn more about the new WIDA self-paced eWorkshops.
- Beginning September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021, WIDA Online Self-Paced eWorkshops are available for all Colorado educators with a school district email.
- No cost and no limit to the number of participants, and participants can log in at any time, from any place where they have access to internet services.
- To participate, educators must have a WIDA Secure Portal account. Only educators with a school district email address will be granted access to eWorkshops.
- To assist with this process, Districts must create and send a bulk upload list with educators' names and email addresses to the WIDA Client Services Center (CSC) at help@wida.us. Once WIDA CSC receives and processes the bulk upload, an automatic email will be sent to the educators on the list inviting them to create an eLearning account through the Secure Portal. Download Bulk Upload Template.
- The eWorkshops are aligned to the English Learner Quality Standards. Please read the WIDA eLearning FAQs for a list of the eWorkshops and what standards they align to.
- Certificate of Completion can be printed and/or downloaded once an eWorkshop is completed. Participants are encouraged to download and/or forward certificates to their personal email as WIDA or CDE will not be able to reproduce certificates or verify participation