ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Overview

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 Overview 

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is an assessment that meets the federal requirements to measure EL students’ academic English language proficiency. According to federal and state guidelines, the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is administered annually to all active English Learners in Georgia, including students whose parents have waived ESOL instructional services and includes EL students with disabilities. Monitored English Learners (EL-1, EL-2, EL-3, and EL-4) should not be given the ACCESS assessments. Atlanta Public Schools utilizes the results of this assessment to measure progress and/or readiness to exit the ESOL program. Scores must be kept on file to document learning gains and to provide data for program accountability. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 must be administered by certified school and district personnel who have completed the required WIDA training. GaDOE Assessment and Accountability Division requires annual WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 certification for all certified personnel who will administer the assessment. All APS personnel are required to score 100% on all quizzes. 

Essential Background 

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 strands for Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners. It is a large-scale test that first and foremost addresses the English language development standards that form the core of the WIDA Consortium's approach to instructing and testing English Learners. 

The grade level online clusters include 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The five content areas that are assessed are Social and Instructional language (SI), which incorporates proficiencies needed to deal with the general language of the classroom and the school as well as language associated with English Language Arts (LA), Math (MA), Science (SC), and Social Studies (SS). For each grade level, then, the standards specify one or more performance indicators for each content area within each of the four language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. 

The WIDA framework recognizes the continuum of language development within the four domains with six English language development/proficiency levels. 

These levels describe the spectrum of a learner's progression from knowing little to no English to acquiring the English skills necessary to be successful in an English-only mainstream classroom without extra support. This final exit stage for EL status is designated Level 6. Visit the WIDA webpage for more information – https://wida.wisc.edu/