Placement of EL Students

Placement

For ELLs new to the U.S. school system or to a particular LEA, it may be necessary to have an initial measure of the student’s English language proficiency in order to determine if the student is in need of English language instructional services and, if so, at what level. Pennsylvania requires LEAs to use the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT), which is aligned to the required annual state ELP assessment (ACCESS for ELLs), to assess students for placement in language instructional programs for ELLs. Please reference Identification of English Language Learners.

Students who transfer to your LEA from another Pennsylvania LEA and have not exited the ESL instructional program should not be re-assessed using the W-APT upon enrollment. The receiving LEA should be able to obtain the student’s ACCESS for ELLs score report from the student’s education records and use the results for placement purposes.

WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test™ (W-APT)

The WIDA Consortium, of which Pennsylvania is a member, created a comprehensive assessment system anchored in the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. Aligned to these standards is the ACCESS for ELLs® test of school-based English language proficiency (ELP). This secure, annual assessment gives educators and parents information about the ELP level of English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 in the language domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Derived from the standards-based ACCESS for ELLs®, the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test™ (W-APT) is designed to be an initial measure of a new student’s English language proficiency level. In other words, the W-APT is designed to be used as one of multiple criteria in determining eligibility for ELL services and program placement.

Purposes

The W-APT has three main purposes:

• To identify students who may be candidates for English as a Second Language (ESL) and/or bilingual services
• To determine the academic English language proficiency level of students new to a school or to the U.S. school system in order to determine appropriate levels and amounts of instructional services
• To accurately assign students identified as ELLs (grades 1-12) to one of the three tiers of the ACCESS for ELLs® test. (Note that the kindergarten W-APT is not tiered.)

W-APT Administration Training

To administer the ACCESS for ELLS test, you must be certified and must complete the ACCESS for ELLs training. There is no separate training for administering the W-APT, since it is essentially a scaled-back ACCESS test. If you are certified to administer the ACCESS for ELLs test, then you are qualified to administer the W-APT. However, since the W-APT is teacher-scored, review of training material is highly recommended with particular attention to the speaking and writing sections of the training.

The ACCESS for ELLs training course is available throughout the year from the WIDA website. Since the ACCESS for ELLs training course contents are secured, login to the WIDA website is required. Your LEA ELL coordinator or ACCESS for ELLs testing facilitator can provide you with login information. If you cannot gain access to the WIDA website through your LEA’s ELL coordinator or ACCESS for ELLs testing facilitator, please contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education for login information.

How to Access the W-APT Materials

All W-APT materials must be accessed and downloaded from the secure WIDA website. The LEA’s ACCESS for ELLs facilitator has been provided with a username and password to access the website and is authorized to download electronic files of the W-APT. Downloaded files must be printed by the ACCESS for ELLs facilitator, or authorized individuals at your LEA, and made available to W-APT test administrators.

Choosing the Appropriate Grade Level Cluster

The W-APT for a particular grade level cluster should be administered to children one semester beyond the beginning of the grade level cluster and one semester beyond the end of the grade level cluster.

Example

The grades 3-5 W-APT is administered to children from 2nd semester grade 3 through lst semester grade 6. WIDA has made this recommendation based on the fact that students just entering a new grade level cluster have not yet had a chance to be exposed to the language standards and content topics appropriate for the grades in that cluster.

Pennsylvania has adopted WIDA’s recommendation as its policy in connection with the test components that should be administered at a given grade level. Please refer to the W-APT Test Administration Manual for more guidance on choosing the appropriate grade level cluster prior to administering the test to a student.

Test Security

The W-APT is a semi-secure test, and it is important to maintain confidentiality of all testing materials. Place all testing materials in locked storage and do not leave materials unattended before or after testing.

The LEA assigned facilitator should conduct a test briefing with school assessment coordinators and test administrators to go over all aspects of the W-APT, including materials, policies and procedures. The personnel involved with testing are responsible for ensuring that no specific test information is shared with students prior to or after testing.

It is also particularly important to secure the consumable materials – the writing test booklet and the scoring sheets – since these contain answer keys and prompts.

Toolkit PowerPoints and Archived Webinars

WIDA supports local trainers (facilitators, coordinators or test administrators) by offering free use of its training materials related to the W-APT. You may edit the PowerPoints, but do not post them publicly. To download the various PowerPoint presentations offered, please login with your ACCESS for ELLs personal training account at the WIDA website.

From the Download Library, go to the Training Toolkit. Also available under the downloads and products listing for the W-APT are 3 recorded webinars: W-APT General Overview Webinar, W-APT Speaking and Writing Tests Webinar, and W-APT Kindergarten webinar.

Printing and Binding Instructions for the W-APT

Please refer to the W-APT Test Administration Manual for instructions on printing and binding the various test documents. You will need to login at the WIDA website and look for the W-APT Kindergarten and/or W-APT Grades 1-12 Test Administration Manuals available for download.

Kindergarten W-APT

The W-APT test Administration Manual for Kindergarten provides guidance for administration of test components for Pre-K and entering K students to take only the Listening and Speaking components. A student entering in the second half of the Kindergarten year would take all four components: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, or only the oral portion (Listening and Speaking). For first semester, first grade students, it is required that these students take all four components of the Kindergarten W-APT.

Kindergarten Scoring for the W-APT

• When using the W-APT for identification and/or placement of kindergarten students, a raw score for listening and speaking of 15 or higher meets the minimum requirement for a student to be exempted from an English language instructional program. Scores of 14 and below are an indicator that a student is in need of an English language instructional program. However, the W-APT should be considered as only one element in the decision making process. Additional criteria must inform the identification and/or placement of these students. Additional criteria can include current or previous grades/progress reports, standardized tests, oral interviews and observations. School districts should document all criteria used in making placement decisions.
• First semester, first grade students are required to take all four components of the Kindergarten W-APT (listening, speaking, reading and writing). PDE has not set raw scores for the kindergarten reading and writing portions and are a local decision at this time. It is imperative to use multiple criteria in making placement decisions when using the kindergarten W-APT. LEAs may use, in addition to the W-APT, other assessments, including standardized tests, oral interviews and observations as additional evidence to determine if the student may be a candidate for ESL instruction. School districts should document all criteria used in making placement decisions.

Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs Tier Placement

The K W-APT is not tiered, so using the K W-APT will not provide a tier placement. PDE suggests that educators allow some time in the classroom to observe students’ performance and progress before assigning a tier placement. An informed decision can be made at such time, as the ACCESS for ELLs testing materials are ordered in November.

Grades 1-12 Scoring for W-APT

• Scoring for the speaking section of the W-APT is identical to the ACCESS for ELLs. Trained test administrators determine whether a student's response approaches, meets or exceeds expectations based on a given rubric.
• Scoring for the writing test is also based on a rubric. Scored writing samples are available to help raters get accustomed to using the rubric. Note that test administrators do not score the ACCESS for ELLs writing test, so W-APT test administrators must take on additional training to reliably score students' writing tests.
• An answer key on the scoring sheet is provided for the multiple choice listening and reading items.
• The W-APT scoring sheet guides test administrators in assigning an overall or composite English language proficiency level for all four components of the test.

The W-APT Score Calculator is a tool to save test administrators the time and trouble of manually converting raw scores and calculating students' composite proficiency levels (CPLs). Unfortunately, it cannot be applied to Kindergarten scores at this time.

Grades 1-12 ACCESS for ELLs Tier Placement

When using the W-APT for identification and/or placement, a composite proficiency score of 4.6 or higher meets the minimum requirement for a student to be exempted from an English language instructional program. Scores of 4.5 and below are an indicator that a student is in need of an English language instructional program. In either case, additional criteria must inform the identification/placement decision. The additional criteria must include current or previous grades and performance on state assessments and LEA assessments (formative and/or summative).

WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT)

Additional information about the use of the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test.

WIDA W-Apt Assessment

To obtain W-APT test forms, kindergarten and grades 1-12 W-APT Test Administration Manuals, Scored Student Writing Samples, W-APT Score Calculator, and training materials.

Additional Recommended Multiple Criteria for Placement

The following criteria may be utilized for placement purposes in addition to the W-APT scores:

• Other formal, standardized ELP assessments
• Student records for children from other states or school systems
• Student educational and linguistic background information

Transcript Evaluation and High School Credit Accrual

As part of the guidelines regarding credit accrual, it is the LEA’s responsibility to establish processes and criteria to guarantee consistency and equity throughout the LEA. These guidelines should be revisited and revised annually according to current information received.

For further information regarding transcript evaluation and high school credit accrual, NAFSA – Association of International Educators provides the Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World.

Objective lists of credentials and other data are provided primarily for undergraduate and graduate admissions, and may also be useful for high school credit accrual.

Age and Grade Appropriate

Instructional placement of ELLs must be age and grade appropriate. Additionally, ELLs must be given equal access to all educational programs, opportunities and extracurricular activities in the same manner as for all students.

Parents’ Limited Right to Opt Out of Specific Instruction in an ESL/Bilingual Education Program

22 Pa. Code § 4.4(d)(3) of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education regulations requires school entities to adopt policies that permit parents to have their children excused from specific instruction* only in the limited circumstance described below:

(3) The right to have their children excused from specific instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs, upon receipt by the school entity of a written request from the parents or guardians.

*In the event that specific instruction conflicts with religious beliefs, the LEA would excuse the student from the specific instruction/content matter (novel, material, topics, etc.) related to the conflict but not the entire ESL or bilingual program.