Research Publications

This WIDA Focus Bulletin explores the integral connection between language and culture for American Indian English Language Learners.

Published May 2014 
Authors: Rosalie Grant, Paula White, Julia Cortada, Sookweon Min

ACCESS for ELLs Online technical reports provide evidence for validity and reliability of ACCESS for ELLs Online and support intended uses, interpretations, and decision made with the test. This is the redacted report for the 2022-2023 administration of ACCESS for ELLs Online without item information.

ACCESS for ELLs Paper technical reports provide evidence for validity and reliability of ACCESS for ELLs Paper and support intended uses, interpretations, and decision made with the test. This is the redacted report for the 2022-2023 administration of ACCESS for ELLs Paper without item information.

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs technical reports provide evidence for validity and reliability of Alternate ACCESS for ELLs and support intended uses, interpretations and decisions made with the test.

This is the redacted report for the 2022-2023 administration of Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. Item information is removed from the report.

This study investigated a coaching process in which state educational representatives (SEAs) and WIDA staff engaged during 2012. The purpose was to enhance the quality of the professional development offered by states to their educators.

Published May 2013 
Authors: Daniella Molle, Christie Reveles

This WIDA Focus Bulletin emphasizes the many benefits of collaboration. The collaborative approach is presented as a cyclical process with shared responsibility by educators assessing, reflecting upon, planning for and teaching multilingual learners.

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This research brief reports preliminary results from a study of teachers’ successful experiences engaging ELLs in collaborative learning with peers.

Published May 2014

WIDA and the National Science Teaching Association formed Making Science Multilingual to support equitable and inclusive forms of science instruction through which all students, but especially multilingual learners, can learn science and language simultaneously. To guide this work, the Making Science Multilingual team devised eight design principles to define the integration of contemporary three-dimensional science and language-in-use pedagogies. These principles will guide educator resource development at both organizations and facilitate critical examination of how well educator resources support inclusion of multilingual learners in rigorous science learning.

This report describe how WIDA applied Differential Item Functioning analysis among multiple disability groups of our Alternate ACCESS Field Test items in 2023.

This report details the development of a new scoring rubric grounded in the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition. This new rubric will be used for scoring responses to the writing tasks on WIDA ACCESS Online and WIDA ACCESS Paper in 2025-26, and the future revised WIDA Screener Online and WIDA Screener Paper.

This research project explored the patterns of district-level ELL “growth” for the 2007-2011 time period and identified the existence of “high-flying” and “low-cruising” districts within ACCESS for ELLs in terms of ELL growth.

Published May 2013
Author: Narek Sahakyan

This 16-state survey of school districts with fewer than 500 English language learners revealed that few district-level English language learner staff had formal preparation in educating English language learner or using English language proficiency standards. A wide school-level disparity existed between English as a second language or bilingual teachers and general education teachers in terms of their engagement with proficiency standards and assessment data.

This Focus Bulletin offers strategies for advancing equity in bilingual settings during the mundo actual of COVID-19. The bulletin emphasizes the importance of valuing multilingual learners’ linguistic and cultural diversity, using translanguaging, and leveraging technological resources.

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Published August 2020
Authors: Sam Aguirre, Erika Rosales

In this Focus Bulletin, WIDA revisits landmark legislation and policies that shaped language education in the U.S. It presents unintended consequences on programming and instruction of bi/multilingual students; showcases how field practitioners address language policy and its consequences; and includes tools for reflection, collaboration, professional learning and community engagement.

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Published November 2022
Author: Mariana Castro

This flyer shows how WIDA English language development resources fit together. This resource is intended to serve as an entry point for teachers, administrators, state staff, etc. who are new to WIDA’s ELD system of support.

This Focus Bulletin reframes the WIDA Can Do Philosophy as a can do cycle of actions that can be embedded into teaching and learning experiences throughout the entire school year. In it, we offer resource banks of questions that can be used to elicit student assets and reflect on ways to build on student assets at the beginning of each unit, during each unit, and at the end of each unit.

Published April 2022
Authors: Maya Martinez-Hart, Christina Nelson

The purpose of this WIDA Focus Bulletin is to provide guidance to teachers of English language arts (ELA) who are implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and working to respond to the specific needs of ELLs. In their treatment of academic language (or the language of school), the CCSS represent a departure from existing content standards.

Published November 2013
Authors: Daniella Molle, Mariana Castro, Julia Cortada, Leslie Grimm

This study examines decision makers, criteria and procedures of kindergarten English learner identification within a U.S. state, in view of WIDA Screener for Kindergarten.

Regardless of the growth model, aggregate test-score-based models of student growth require large and longitudinally connected samples of student data. When sample sizes are small it becomes impossible to reliably estimate and disentangle district, school and teacher effects from student growth data.

Published June 2015 
Author: Narek Sahakyan

This study examines how 476 K–12 educators in 35 U.S. states identify and place English learners in language instruction educational programs. Findings reveal information about these educators, the instruments and information sources they use for decision making, and their perceived appropriateness of the decisions. Results provide practical implications for improving the English learner identification and placement decision at the district and school levels.