WIDA-ACCESS Assessment

ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is a language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs). It is given annually to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English.

 

Features

ACCESS for ELLs test items are written from the model performance indicators of WIDA's five English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards:

•    Social & Instructional Language

•    Language of Language Arts

•    Language of Mathematics

•    Language of Science

•    Language of Social Studies

 

Test forms are divided into five grade-level clusters:

•    Kindergarten

•    Grades 1-2 

•    Grades 3-5

•    Grades 6-8

•    Grades 9-12

Within each grade-level cluster (except Kindergarten), ACCESS for ELLs consists of three forms: Tier A (beginning), Tier B (intermediate), and Tier C (advanced). This keeps the test shorter and more appropriately targets a student’s range of language skills.

Each form of the test assesses the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.