Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know: WIDA ACCESS 2025-2026

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! Pay special attention to the “A word from WIDA” sections for WIDA advice.

ACCESS Assessment Changes in the 2025-2026 School Year

For the last few years, we’ve been revising Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs (now WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten) and ACCESS for ELLs (now WIDA ACCESS) so that they incorporate the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.

Here are the top things to know:

• We completely redesigned Kindergarten ACCESS and incorporated new test content that reflects the input of many experienced educators.
• We made all the changes to ACCESS (grades 1-12) behind the scenes, so that the test administration experience is the same this school year as it was last school year.
• We will release ACCESS score reports on time – on track with your regular reporting timeline.
• We will hold a standard setting event in July 2026 to ensure that student scores still give an accurate picture of a student’s English language development.

A word from WIDA: Learn more about the changes to ACCESS and Kindergarten ACCESS on the WIDA ACCESS in 2025-26 page.

ACCESS Member/State Guidelines

Head over to your member/state page (which is in the dropdown menu at the top of the WIDA website) to find testing dates and information, instructions for setting up a WIDA Secure Portal or WIDA Assessment Management System (AMS) account and contact information for your state education agency.

A word from WIDA: Your state education agency determines which WIDA assessments you use and sets specific policies on how to use those assessments. Your member/state page is the go-to place for this information.

ACCESS Training

Find ACCESS training courses in the WIDA Secure Portal. Once you’re in the portal, go to Assessment Training and use Filter By to narrow your search. Then, find your training course and select Learn More & Enroll. From there, you can enroll in the course and view and download related resources. Go to My Certifications to find your recent course certifications.

A word from WIDA: For scoring the Speaking test this year, ACCESS will use the new Speaking Scoring Rubric. For those administering ACCESS Braille, you will continue to use the same Speaking Scoring Scale as last year. This means that you may have to complete different speaking scoring training courses this year. Learn more about these training course changes in the What to know: WIDA assessments in the 2025-2026 school year news article.

ACCESS Test Preparation for Students

Find test preparation resources for ACCESS Online and ACCESS Paper on the ACCESS Test Practice and Sample Items webpage. On the page, you’ll find things like sample items for ACCESS Online, ACCESS Paper and the ACCESS Braille accommodation, as well as resources to help prepare students for testing with test demos and test practice items.

A word from WIDA: This fall, we added more Listening and Reading sample items for ACCESS Online and ACCESS Paper! These additions provide a better representation of test items across grade-level clusters, domains and standards.

ACCESS Family Engagement Info

Find the What is WIDA ACCESS? and What is WIDA Alternate ACCESS? family handouts on the WIDA ACCESS webpage (in the Resources To Share With Families section). These handouts explain ACCESS testing and are translated into the 16 most widely used home languages across the WIDA Consortium. Download, print and share these family-friendly handouts.

A word from WIDA: Looking for other family engagement resources? Check out our revamped Engaging Families and Communities page! The page is home to helpful videos and guides for building awareness, advocacy and trust with families of multilingual students.

ACCESS Help

For general ACCESS questions, you’ll want to 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 ACCESS. Head over to the Contact Us page to get in touch with a WIDA expert.

For questions about WIDA AMS (the web-based interface used to manage ACCESS student and test registration information) or things like materials ordering and ACCESS Online technical issues, you’ll want to contact Data Recognition Corporation (DRC). Head over to the Contact Us page to find contact information for DRC.

A word from WIDA: Want to tackle your question on your own? You can! There is most likely a WIDA Assessment Webinar on a topic that answers your question. Go to the Webinars page in the WIDA Secure Portal for a list of upcoming and recorded webinars. We’ve got webinars on everything from managing students in WIDA AMS to interpreting score reports.

A bonus word from WIDA: Help us make our assessments the best they can be by signing up to participate in an ACCESS event! We value the fresh eyes, unique perspectives and range of experiences that you and your colleagues bring to test items, and we revise test items based on this feedback. If you would like to contribute to WIDA test development work, browse our Building a WIDA Assessment page to learn more and apply.