North Carolina Department of Public Instruction North Carolina Testing Program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the ACCESS for ELLs Annual Testing 2012 2013 The following FAQ has been developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) to assist school systems in the administration of the annual test of English language proficiency, the ACCESS for ELLs. The information should be used in conjunction with other testing materials in the administration of the test, including the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs FAQs located at http://wida.us/faqs/. ACCESS for ELLs Training and Administration 1. Will school system personnel need to attend face-to-face or online training? Both face-to-face and online training will be supported by the NCDPI. The state will host two ACCESS for ELLs webinar subtest trainings on January 9, 2013. A webinar will be conducted for new ACCESS for ELLs test administrators, while another will be conducted for individuals who have experience administering the test. Additional information regarding training times and webinar log-in information will be disseminated. ACCESS for ELLs test policy training will be conducted locally as in years past. School system personnel must work together to ensure all designated individuals are trained on the subtests and policy of the ACCESS for ELLs. 2. If I am a test administrator who was trained on the subtest during the 2011 12 school year (online, face-to-face, or by another WIDA Consortium state) do I need to be trained again this year? Yes. Subtest training must occur each year and adhere to your school system s test training plan. LEAs have the option of providing the ACCESS for ELLs subtest training face-to-face, online, or a combination of the two methods. The online training course may be taken more than once. To access the WIDA subtest training, users must create an individual user account on the WIDA Consortium website at http://www.wida.us/. 3. If I am serving in the role of trainer-of-trainers in my school system, what materials do I use for the subtest trainings? The NCDPI recommends trainers-of-trainers use the ACCESS for ELLs Training Toolkit. This toolkit is located on the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs test administration training site, the main page that is brought up once an individual user account is created. You may access this site by creating an account at http://www.wida.us/. Trainers may download and reproduce ACCESS for ELLs test materials only for the specific purpose of training North Carolina ACCESS for ELLs test administrators. Be aware that these materials are intended for use with educators in WIDA Consortium states who are directly responsible for organizing and administering the ACCESS for ELLs. Some NCDPI Accountability Services/North Carolina Testing Program November 2012
2 PowerPoint presentations and other documents contain secure test materials. Therefore, these materials should not be posted on public websites or forums. Please carefully read the user agreement to understand the terms and conditions of the ACCESS for ELLs Training Toolkit. 4. Is the ACCESS for ELLs a secure test? Yes. A secure test is one that adheres to strict guidelines for its availability and use. Often these tests are used for accountability purposes. The ACCESS for ELLs has been adopted by the North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) as part of the state testing and accountability programs. It must be treated like all other secure tests in these programs. 5. What are the qualifications for test administrators? Test administrators of the ACCESS for ELLs must have the following qualifications: Employed by the school system. Status as a classified (e.g., teacher assistant or other nonteacher role) or certified school staff member. Retired teachers, if working for the school district as substitute teachers or members of the staff in any capacity, may administer the tests. Contracted tutorial services or agencies are not permitted to administer the test. Status as highly proficient in the English language. The individual s spoken English must be clearly understandable by all language-minority students during the test administration. Trained on the state-designated English language proficiency test as a test administrator. 6. How does the NCDPI determine a student s tier placement for the test? A score file is shared between the NCDPI and MetriTech, the processing and scoring contractor for the test. This file is prepopulated with information from the LEP Consolidated Federal Data Collection system (LEP CFDC). MetriTech ships the appropriate number of materials for students in each tier placement based on the number indicated in the file sent to them in December by the NCDPI. School systems must ensure the correct tier placement has been chosen in the LEP CFDC for each student during the October 1 head count. There is a short window in November to adjust tier placement for students who were not included in the October 1 head count. 7. What are the exit criteria for students identified as LEP? Students must meet the Comprehensive Objective Composite (COC) as set by the state. The COC defines the attainment of English language proficiency as the student reaching an overall composite score of 4.8 or above, with at least a 4.0 on the reading subtest and at least a 4.0 on the writing subtest on the ACCESS for ELLs for kindergarten students and Tier B or Tier C for grades 1 12.
3 8. What is the definition of adaptiveness? What if the test administrator knows the student can answer the question at a higher level, but the student responds at a lower level? During the test development process, item order is based on how the student responded to the previous questions. This adaptiveness is built into the test construction and the directions for administration. Administrators must follow the directions as provided or a misadministration will result. Test administrators must take the answers the students provide under the uniform conditions of the test administration and not allow their knowledge of the student to in any way be used to adapt or modify responses, directions, or outcomes, as this would result in a misadministration. 9. What should be done if a new language minority student arrives on the last day of the ACCESS for ELLs testing window? The state testing window for the ACCESS for ELLs is February 1 through March 15, 2013. All students enrolled in the school system between February 1 and March 8 must be assessed during the testing window and be included in Annual Measurable Achievement Objective (AMAO) calculations. Students enrolled after March 8 are not required to be assessed and will not be included in the calculations. 10. I have a newly enrolled student who scores very low on the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT TM ). Does the school system administer all four subtests of the ACCESS for ELLs? Yes. All four subtests of the ACCESS for ELLs must be administered to the student. The school system must allow the student to demonstrate what he or she is able to do, even if the student appears to have a low level of English language proficiency. 11. How can the ACCESS for ELLs test scores inform instruction and instructional placement? Test scores are only a part of the whole picture of a student s language proficiency and achievement. Test scores do not necessarily describe how achievement happens. Instructional decisions must be made based on a variety of information, such as knowledge of the student s previous schooling and/or a portfolio of the student s work throughout the school year. With this in mind, the ACCESS for ELLs helps to determine the student s proficiency level in an attempt to establish the types of instructional interventions and classroom testing accommodations that are best for the individual student. See the ACCESS for ELLs Interpretive Guide for Score Reports on the WIDA Consortium website at http://www.wida.us/.
4 Testing Accommodations 12. Which testing accommodations may be provided to students with disabilities who are tested on the ACCESS for ELLs in North Carolina? School systems must ensure testing accommodations are provided to students with disabilities having a current Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan. The state has outlined specific testing accommodations for these students, and these may be found in the North Carolina ACCESS for ELLs Policy and Procedure Guidance for Annual Testing. This document outlines the testing accommodations and their use in relation to each subtest. Refer to the Testing Students with Disabilities publication and any published supplements or updates for additional information on the provision of testing accommodations for students with disabilities. 13. Are there ACCESS for ELLs test materials in Braille format? Effective with the 2010 11 school year, Braille editions of the ACCESS for ELLs will no longer be produced by the WIDA Consortium. The WIDA Consortium has stated they cannot provide the ACCESS for ELLs in a Braille format because it violates the construct and/or requires significant changes in the test so that it is no longer comparable. To address this issue, WIDA has charged a subcommittee to explore ways to make the ACCESS for ELLs more accessible for visually impaired students. If an IEP team determines it is in the best interest of a student to make one or more subtests available in Braille, the school/lea will be responsible for Brailling the subtests (see the current WIDA ACCESS for ELLs District and School Test Administration Manual) and the team must inform the student and parent that the use of the Braille forms will result in invalid scores. If a student is unable to be assessed on one or more subtests because the ACCESS for ELLs was not developed for someone with the student s specific disability, this must be reported on the student s test booklet in the area labeled Do Not Score This Section for This Student. If the student is unable to participate in one or more subtest(s) of the ACCESS for ELLs, the student remains identified as LEP and is still required to participate in subsequent annual testing. 14. What options are available for students who are deaf or hearing impaired? Some students are able to take all four domains of the test, even if they are deaf or hearing impaired. This is dependent on the degree of hearing loss, use of amplifiers, ability to lip read, etc. If the student cannot hear or speak English or any other language, including sign language, listening and speaking cannot be tested. These students can only be assessed in reading and writing. If a student is unable to be assessed on one or more subtests because the ACCESS for ELLs was not developed for someone with the student s specific disability, report this on the student s test booklet in the area labeled Do Not Score This Section for This Student. If the student is unable to participate in one or more subtest(s) of the ACCESS for ELLs, the
5 student remains identified as LEP and is still required to participate in subsequent annual testing. Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities 15. Must students with significant cognitive disabilities be administered the ACCESS for ELLs? If a student with significant cognitive disabilities is identified as LEP, the student must be assessed during annual testing. However, if the student is unable to be assessed on one or more subtests because the ACCESS for ELLs was not developed for someone with the student s specific disability, this must be reported on the student s test booklet in the area labeled Do Not Score This Section for This Student. If the student is unable to participate in one or more subtests of the ACCESS for ELLs, the student remains identified as LEP and is still required to participate in subsequent annual testing. It may be determined that the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is the appropriate assessment for an LEP student with significant cognitive disabilities. Additional information on the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs, including a separate FAQ document, can be found on the WIDA website at http://www.wida.us/assessment/alternateaccess.aspx. Test Booklets and Test Materials 16. May students write in the test book? Students in North Carolina schools are accustomed to writing in their test books to help them answer questions or solve problems on state tests, but they record their answers on a separate answer sheet. School systems are reminded that the entire ACCESS for ELLs is comprised of a consumable test book that is processed through high speed optical mark imaging equipment. Care should be taken to apply the same rules as those that would apply to any scannable answer sheets. In addition to information provided here, the guidelines outlined in the North Carolina ACCESS Policy and Procedure Guidance must be followed. Use of Highlighters and Writing in the Test Booklet as a Test-Taking Strategy Highlighters are permitted on the ACCESS for ELLs as a test taking strategy if (1) students are instructed in how to properly use highlighters in scannable test books and (2) test administrators and proctors monitor test administrations to ensure highlighters are used appropriately. If a student writes or uses a highlighter (in any color) in the test book as a testtaking strategy, test administrators must ensure (1) the student s responses are dark pencil marks that completely fill the bubbles in the section for responses and (2) any stray pencil or highlighter marks do not interrupt the white space surrounding the area designated for bubbling. White space surrounding the area designated for bubbling should be left clear of student markings. Stray pencil marks may be erased. However, if pencil markings cannot be erased and/or highlighter markings are inside the white space that must be kept unmarked, the test
6 administrator must transfer the student s responses to a new, clean test book. Extra test books are provided to each district and can be used for this purpose. The transcription and verification process must occur under secure conditions in a group setting (i.e., three or more designated school personnel). Once the student s responses have been transcribed and verified, the test administrator or designated school personnel must clip the two test books together and ship the documents to MetriTech for scoring and processing. If test books are submitted that cannot be scored because of stray pencil marks or improper highlighter markings, the cost and resubmission of the new test book will be at the expense of the school district. Use of the Student Marks Answers in Test Book Accommodation If test books are submitted to MetriTech that cannot be scored because of stray pencil marks or improper highlighter markings, the cost and resubmission of the new test book will be at the expense of the school district. Because of these circumstances, test administrators must pay special attention anytime the Student Marks Answers in Test Book accommodation is used. The most recent version of the North Carolina Testing Students with Disabilities publication requires students provided with the Student Marks Answers in Test Book accommodation to circle their responses to test questions directly in their test books during the test administration. This accommodation is typically provided to students with a current IEP or Section 504 Plan who have difficulty transferring information; have difficulty staying focused on tasks; or experience mobility, coordination, or motor limitations. Under secure conditions in a group setting (i.e., three or more designated school personnel), each student s test book in which the Student Marks Answers in Test Book accommodation is used must be reviewed to ensure the student s final answers are clearly bubbled and ready to be machine scored.