Resources/Recursos

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.

Este boletín de enfoque ofrece estrategias para avanzar la equidad en los programas bilingües en el mundo actual de COVID-19. Se da énfasis a la importancia de la diversidad lingüística y cultural, el translenguaje y recursos tecnológicos para la equidad.

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.

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.

Published November 2022
Author: Mariana Castro

Este boletín de enfoque explora el translenguaje desde la perspectiva de cuatro educadores, y abarca el contexto de kínder hasta el 12º grado. El translenguaje, lo cual es una práctica común entre las personas multilingües, se define como el uso de todos los lenguajes y sus variedades disponibles para comunicarnos y comprender el mundo que nos rodea. El boletín proporciona ideas específicas sobre cómo usar el translenguaje para crear espacios para el multilingüismo de los estudiantes e incluye preguntas de reflexión para apoyar a los educadores en su aplicación de estrategias de translenguaje en su práctica.

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

This WIDA Snapshot is grounded in WIDA’s ABCs of Family Engagement and can be used to initiate reflection and conversation on local efforts to engage with families of multilingual children.

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

The 2007 ELP Standards for grades 6-12 reflected the social and academic dimensions of acquiring a second language that were expected of ELLs in grades 6-12 attending schools in the United States. Each ELP standard addressed a specific context for English language development.

The 2007 ELP Standards for grades PreK-5 reflected the social and academic dimensions of acquiring a second language that were expected of ELLs in grades PreK-5 attending schools in the United States. Each ELP standard addressed a specific context for English language development.

WIDA Video Contest Winner

Mindy Lewis-Hitch develops a grade-level, standards-based unit and provides her ninth graders with clear modeling and guided practice using game-type activities for Romeo and Juliet. Mindy also demonstrates working with colleagues to help raise awareness of scaffolding lessons so all learners can be engaged.

Este WIDA Snapshot está basado en el ABC (por sus siglas en inglés) de la participación familiar de WIDA y puede usarlo para iniciar la reflexión y la conversación sobre los esfuerzos locales para el enlace con las familias de niños multilingües.

Los estándares del desarrollo del lenguaje español de WIDA, desde Kínder hasta el Grado 12°, edición 2013, constituyen un recurso para la planificación, la instrucción y la evaluación del lenguaje de bilingües emergentes que están aprendiendo el contenido académico en español.

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.

This research report provides a description of a study examining school districts in the WIDA Consortium whose English language learners (ELLs) exhibit consistently high growth on the ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) assessment.

Published August 2014 
Authors: Narek Sahakyan, H. Gary Cook

This report examines English learners’ (EL) testing, proficiency and growth in the academic years of 2018–19, 2019–20 and 2020–21, using population-level data from ACCESS for ELLs Online, administered across the WIDA Consortium to students identified as ELs. The objective of the report is to shed light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ELs’ educational outcomes.

October 2021 
Authors: Narek Sahakyan, H. Gary Cook

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

Motivated by findings of a 2018 WIDA report pointing to large overlap between ELs with Individualized Education Program (IEP) designations and those ELs who could be identified as LTELs, this study further focuses on these dual-identified students. Grouping ELs by ever-IEP (i.e., being assigned an IEP at any point in the longitudinal record) and never-IEP status, we compare these two subgroups’ English language growth trajectories across time. Our findings show consistent trends of differential growth and reclassification rates for these two subgroups.

Published November 2021 
Authors: Narek Sahakyan, Glenn Poole