This just in: 23-24 Alternate ACCESS score report resources available

By Katie Stenz

If you support English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities who took WIDA Alternate ACCESS in 2023-24, this news article is for you!

After completing the Alternate ACCESS Standard Setting Study event in July (scroll down to learn more), we can release Alternate ACCESS scores and reports.

NOTE: Alternate ACCESS score reports will be delivered to states on a rolling basis throughout September and October. Check your Member/State page for your specific report delivery timing.

Take advantage of 2023-24 Alternate ACCESS score report resources

Find the following resources on the Alternate ACCESS Scores and Reports webpage.

• Look for answers to all score questions in the WIDA Alternate ACCESS Interpretive Guide for Score Reports. This document is the single best place to find out what students’ Alternate ACCESS scores mean and what to do with that information.
• Rely on the Alternate Proficiency Level Descriptors for explanations of how students use their English language at each proficiency level. Scroll to the end of the document for a section that defines terms and gives examples of student responses.
• Get familiar with the two brand-new Individual Student Reports (ISRs): One is for educators, and one is for families. Find samples of the ISRs in the Types of Score Reports. The ISR for Families contains the critical information families need to know and the ISR for Educators gives detailed information to help you support your students. A copy of each ISR (in English) gets mailed to your school/district’s preferred shipping location. Find translated copies of the ISR for Families in WIDA AMS.
• Watch the recording of the Understanding 2023-24 WIDA Alternate ACCESS Score Reports webinar. Expect to learn how to make sense of new score levels and the redesigned Alternate ACCESS ISRs.
• Share the revised WIDA Alternate ACCESS: Understanding Your Child’s Scores flyer, along with the appropriate ISR, with families. The flyer is available in 16 languages and helps families understand what scores mean and how they are used. For this year only: The flyer has a second page that explains what is different about this year’s score report.

Pro tip: If you still have questions after reviewing these resources, get in touch with the WIDA Client Services Center.

Keep the following advice in mind as you review score reports:

• Consider the 2023-24 Alternate ACCESS test scores as a reset. Scores from 2023-24 cannot be compared to scores from 2022-23.
• Focus on the Alternate Proficiency Level Descriptors and guidance in the Interpretive Guide for Score Reports to
  • Identify student strengths
  • Determine appropriate student supports
  • Look ahead at the next proficiency level to set language goals
• You need two years of results on the new scale to look at growth, and three or more years to see trends in language development.
• Contact your State Education Agency (SEA) with questions about reclassification. Pro tip: Select your state from the Member/State Pages dropdown at the top of the WIDA website to find your state contact info.

Learn more about standard setting

Curious about what happened during and after the Alternate ACCESS Standard Setting Study event? Here’s a quick recap:

• Sixty-four panelists met in Bloomington, Minnesota to set threshold descriptors and help WIDA set proficiency level cut scores for the redesigned Alternate ACCESS. Nine SEA representatives and three WIDA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members participated as observers.
• Panelists were divided into groups and assigned a grade-level cluster and either the productive (Speaking and Writing) or receptive (Listening and Reading) domains. In groups, they created descriptions of students at threshold levels, e.g., What can a student do if they are moving from level 1 to level 2? Level 2 to level 3?
• Panelists systematically looked at each item and decided whether students at each threshold level would, more likely than not, correctly respond to the task. Panelists entered their judgements into a tool and were given an opportunity to see how their group’s judgements would impact students based on actual scores from 2023-24.
• SEAs and WIDA TAC members reviewed the results of the event.
• WIDA gave the new proficiency level cut scores to DRC so score reports could be finalized, printed and shipped out to schools and districts.

Read more about the Alternate ACCESS standard setting process in Conversations with Candoo.