Colorado
Member of the WIDA Consortium since 2012.
Assessments
Colorado uses WIDA Screener for Kindergarten 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.
Before the WIDA Alternate Screener can be released for use in Colorado, eligibility cut scores must be determined. During the 2025-2026 school year, the Colorado Department of Education will collect data, review test materials, and meet with stakeholders in order to set cut point guidance for use in the 2026-2027 school year.
Questions about identifying students for English language development programming should be addressed to the Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education.
Testing Dates
| 9/12/24 | Alternate ACCESS Reports and Data Files Available - Online |
|---|---|
| 10/2/24 | Alternate ACCESS Reports Available in District - Printed |
| 10/1/24 - 1/8/25 | Test Administrators Complete WIDA Training Modules and Certification Quizzes |
| 10/1/24 - 11/1/24 | Initial Paper Materials Order (through Syncplicity/CDE) |
| 12/3/24 - 2/21/25 | WIDA AMS Test Setup Available for Registrations |
| 12/17/24 - 12/19/24 | Districts Receive Test Materials |
| 1/13/25 - 2/14/25 | Test Window |
| 1/6/25 - 2/4/25 | Additional Test Material Ordering Available Window (through CDE) |
| 2/19/25 | Deadline for Shipping Completed Test Materials to DRC - Postmark date |
| 4/30/25 | Districts Receive Reports and Data - Posted in WIDA AMS |
| 5/12/25 - 5/13/25 | Printed Reports Received in Districts |
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
- State Testing Requirements
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
- To download the 2020 Edition or supporting resources, visit the WIDA ELD Standards Framework webpage
- To order printed booklets, visit the WIDA Store
Visit Colorado’s Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education Professional Learning page and the Colorado English Language Proficiency (CELP) Standards page for more information.
Professional Learning
Colorado’s Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education offers Professional Learning opportunities. Please see the Professional Learning page to learn more.
Online Self-Paced Workshops are available for all Colorado K-12 public school educators with a school district email with a Secure Portal account.
- 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 are granted access to WIDA Self-paced Workshops.
- To assist with this process, Districts 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 email is sent to the educators on the list inviting them to create an account through the Secure Portal. Download Bulk Upload Template.
- The workshops are aligned to the English Learner Quality Standards. Please read the WIDA eLearning FAQs for a list of the workshops and what standards they align to.
- A Completion Certificate can be printed and/or downloaded once the workshop is completed. Please note, CDE is not able to reproduce certificates or verify participation for the WIDA self-paced workshops.