Resources/Recursos

The Alternate Proficiency Level Descriptors (Alternate PLDs) are an extension of the PLDs found in the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards, 2020 Edition, and describe the continuum of language development for ELs with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The Alternate PLDs are organized into five levels of English language proficiency for two communication modes: interpretive and expressive. Refer to the Glossary and Text Examples section for definitions of terms and examples of student responses. WIDA, with the help of classroom educators, created these proficiency levels to be unique to WIDA Alternate ACCESS.

Released August 2023

This guide helps IEP teams determine if a student should take the WIDA Alternate ACCESS assessment, or the ACCESS for ELLs (Online or Paper) assessment with accommodations.

Released August 2023

This accessibility manual was developed to guide the selection and administration of Test Administration Considerations, Universal Tools, and Accommodations for individual English Language Learners (ELLs) in order to produce valid assessment results.

Released August 2023

Checklist for IEP teams to prepare for administration of WIDA Alternate ACCESS.

Released June 2023

A checklist for tracking the accommodations a student receives for WIDA ACCESS Paper.

Released June 2023

A checklist for tracking the accommodations a student receives on WIDA ACCESS Online.

Released June 2023

A checklist for tracking the accommodations a student receives on WIDA Screener Online.

Released June 2023

A checklist for tracking the accommodations a student receives on WIDA Screener Paper.

Released June 2023

A checklist for tracking the accommodations a student receives on WIDA Screener for Kindergarten.

Released June 2023

Checklist for IEP teams to prepare for administering WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten.

Released June 2023

This Focus Bulletin explores the process of evaluating student writing, and examines how educators can consistently evaluate the written language of multilingual learners. It provides strategies for educators to support evaluations that generate focused and helpful feedback for students.

Released June 2023

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

Released May 2023

Envíe este volante a los hogares con los estudiantes, junto con el Informe individual del estudiante de Alternate ACCESS. Este folleto provee información sobre cada aspecto de la puntuación incluida en el informe. Utilice esta guía en español para ayudar a los padres a comprender qué significan las puntuaciones y cómo se utilizan.

Released April 2023

This report ​examines English learner testing, proficiency, and growth in the years surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. This research builds on an October 2021 report on the impact of the pandemic, and includes data from the 2021-22 ACCESS for ELLs test administration. Findings indicate that in some grades and language domains EL's average proficiency and growth have returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, for most grades and language domains the evidence points to a continuing impact of COVID-19 on English learners’ English language development.

Published April 2023
Author: Narek Sahakyan, Glenn Poole

Released April 2023

This report describes how different student ability restrictions may affect item characteristics in the ACCESS multistage adaptive testing, and presents options for item administration in field testing.

Released April 2023

Este informe brinda información sobre el nivel de desarrollo del alumno en la prueba de desempeño linguístico en inglés ACCESS for ELLs.

Released February 2023

This comprehensive document explains the types of scores reported by ACCESS for ELLs for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Released February 2023

This version of the report is for educators and provides information about a student’s scores on the Alternate ACCESS English language proficiency test. This test is based on the WIDA Alternate English Language Development Standards and is used to measure students’ progress in learning English. Scores are reported as Language Proficiency Levels and as Scale Scores.

Released February 2023

​This Focus Bulletin illustrates how teachers and students can use language development portfolios to interpret and document language growth. The bulletin follows the story of how a grade-level team introduced portfolios to their practice, posing several questions the team asked as they refined their usage. It closes by offering two sample tools that teachers can use and adapt to capture multilingual learners’ language growth using modified Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs) from the WIDA English Language Development Framework, 2020 Edition.

Published: December 2022 
Authors: Fernanda Marinho Kray, Margo Gottlieb, Lynn Shafer Willner

Released December 2022

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.

Vea y descargue en español

Published November 2022
Author: Mariana Castro

Released November 2022