What to know: WIDA assessments in 2024-25 school year

Welcome back, WIDA educators!

As you head back to school, keep in mind that our client services specialists are just a phone call or email away. We know that sometimes you don’t have time to find where you put that test administrator manual, and you just need a simple question answered. Reach out to us. All of us at WIDA appreciate you and want to make sure you have what you need to best support students and their families.  

Here, we walk you through a list of what’s new with WIDA Screener, ACCESS for ELLs and WIDA MODEL. We’ll highlight a resource you may have missed in each section – look for ICYMI (In Case You Missed It). Plus, we tell you what you can do to make sure testing counts and how to stay in the know about all things WIDA.  

What’s new (topics are in alphabetical order)

To get the following updates in webinar form, attend the Welcome Back: What’s New in 2024? webinar on September 10 at 1:00pm CT. Find more info on this webinar and all other assessment webinars on the Webinars page in the WIDA Secure Portal.

Accessibility and accommodations

The Accessibility and Accommodations Manual is updated for 2024-25 and includes

• Clarification about the use of electronic devices for medical purposes in the test environment
• Revised guidance on scribing related to the use of augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) devices and to remove requirements around spelling, punctuation and grammar

We released new guidance on administering WIDA Screener to students who are blind or have low vision and/or who are deaf or hard of hearing. Find this resource in the WIDA Secure Portal when filtering by Accessibility and Accommodations.

ICYMI: The Advancing ALTELLA team published the Assessing English Learners with Disabilities: A Glossary of Terms. This glossary demystifies the terms, acronyms and jargon that are used by those who support multilingual learners with disabilities. Browse the online glossary or download and print the PDF version.

ACCESS tests in development

Kindergarten ACCESS Field Test 2025

As part of the Redesigning Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs project, WIDA is conducting a field test in the 2024-25 school year. We’re seeking 2000 kindergarten English learners and 2000 first grade English learner from around the WIDA Consortium to participate in this voluntary field test. Data from first grade participants will help us better understand growth expectations between Kindergarten ACCESS and ACCESS for ELLs. The field test window opens on January 21 and closes on March 28, 2025.

Learn more about the field test and apply to participate in it on the Redesigned Kindergarten ACCESS Is Coming in 2025-26 webpage.

ICYMI: Take advantage of our Communications Toolkit: Redesigned Kindergarten ACCESS is Coming in 2025-26, which is on the webpage, to share details about the project with your colleagues.

Revised ACCESS for ELLs is coming in 2025-26

We’re in the process of revising ACCESS to integrate the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition, into ACCESS Online, Paper and Kindergarten ACCESS. These updated tests will be ready for the 2025-26 ACCESS testing year.

During the 2024-25 school year, we’ll release videos and resources to help you get ready for the revised assessment. Visit the Revised ACCESS for ELLs is Coming in 2025-26 page to watch a five-minute video about the impact of the 2020 Edition on ACCESS for ELLs.

WIDA Alternate Screener

A new assessment is joining the WIDA Screener family in summer 2025! WIDA Alternate Screener is a brand-new, paper-based English language proficiency assessment given to new students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades K-12, to help determine if students are English learners.  

Before we can release the assessment, we need to conduct the WIDA Alternate Screener Validation Study. We’re looking for 150 students to participate in the study, which will take place October 1 through November 29, 2024.  

Browse the WIDA Alternate Screener is Coming in 2025-26 webpage to learn more about the test and apply to participate in the validation study.

ACCESS for ELLs

This fall, download translated versions of the ACCESS for ELLs Online Test Administrator Script to use with students who need the ACCESS directions translated.

• These scripts will be available in the 16 most commonly used languages in the WIDA Consortium and will give students a more standardized test experience.  
• Scripts for grades 4-12 will contain translated directions for all four domains.
• Scripts for grades 1-3 will contain translated directions for Listening, Reading and Speaking only.

Check the WIDA Secure Portal closer to ACCESS testing to download this resource.

WIDA Assessment Management System (WIDA AMS) enhancements

WIDA and DRC made some small changes to WIDA AMS for 2024-25 that we hope will have a big impact.

• New features in Test Management allow you to change assessments on automatically generated registrations or regroup students in automatically generated registrations based on your school or district’s preferences.
• You can assign multiple ACCESS assessments when using the New Student feature in Test Management.
• You can now transfer students assigned to the WIDA Screener testing program to another school in your district.
• This fall, you’ll be able to print test tickets for specific students from the Registration Details screen.

More features have been added to WIDA AMS Reporting Services. Use the new Operational Dashboard to track your students’ testing progress and that of your district.

• Take advantage of Test Status to see daily and weekly views of registrations complete, in progress, or not started, and see your percentage complete.
• View Student Status to see the status of specific students and other testing information, like student demographics and accommodations.

Looking for support with WIDA AMS? Click on Knowledge Articles on the WIDA AMS landing page to view a library of in-depth articles or click on the Online Help icon (?) in the upper right corner of the applications, to access step by step directions for tasks in WIDA AMS.

ICYMI: Watch the WIDA AMS and DRC Technical Enhancements for 2024-2025 recorded webinar, located in the WIDA Secure Portal, to learn about all of the changes.

WIDA MODEL

WIDA MODEL Online has several new enhancements that have rolled out in the past few months.  

• New writing rater training materials: Writing rater training materials for all grade-level clusters have been updated. These new materials give detailed instructions on how to score the Writing domain test and contain authentic student responses to current MODEL Online Writing tasks. We also added more scored student responses that can be used for practice.
• Faster content load times: We made system updates behind the scenes of the MODEL Online platform, which means you may experience faster content load times, particularly when administering the test internationally.  
• Additional Speaking content: A March update included more Speaking test content variation for students taking the same grade-level cluster test more than once. This article explains how the MODEL Online platform provides Speaking content variation for students, and how to prepare to administer the Speaking test.  

WIDA MODEL will be moving to a new testing platform in 2025. Starting in June of 2025, the MODEL Online testing platform will be hosted by Pearson. The Pearson Test management platform and test delivery application will include many of the features MODEL users have been requesting, like additional rostering capabilities, enhanced reporting options, embedded universal tools and other accessibility features. The MODEL Online test content will not change as a part of the transition. Visit the WIDA MODEL is on the move webpage to learn about the upcoming change, how to prepare, and the transition timeline.

Make sure testing counts

As you gear up for testing, keep in mind…

• When capturing student Speaking responses, it is important for the test administrator to confirm that the audio is being recorded by the device and that the student is speaking clearly into the microphone.
• Allowing students to take any internet-connected devices, such as cell phones, smartwatches or Bluetooth headsets into an ACCESS test session is a violation of test security. Copied or plagiarized responses can result in a student’s score being invalidated.
• ACCESS test administrator scripts and training materials include specific devices that students shouldn’t have in the testing environment.  

Stay in the know

• Participate in an ACCESS event! Every year, we ask the WIDA community to participate in events and activities that help us review and refresh our assessment tools. If you would like to contribute to WIDA test development work, peruse our Building a WIDA Assessment webpage to learn more and apply.
• Customize the WIDA communications you receive with WIDA News Subscriptions. Choose from monthly and quarterly newsletters like WIDA News and The Big Idea: WIDA Standards Newsletter or sign up to receive occasional focused messages on topics like PreK-3 resources, professional learning, or multilingual learners with disabilities. Visit your Profile in the WIDA Secure Portal to opt in or out at any time.