Administering the Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs

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Administering the Kindergarten ACCESSfor ELLs

• Jessica Nelson, Center for Applied Linguistics
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania December 2006

Developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics
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• For more information, please contact the WIDA
  Hotline[phone] or www.wida.us/helpform

World Class Instructional Design and Assessment,
www.wida.us
Center for Applied Linguistics, www.cal.org
Metritech, Inc., www.metritech.com
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Training Goals

• To understand the organization of the ACCESS for
  ELLs Kindergarten test booklet
• To learn how to administer and reliably score the
  ACCESS for ELLs Kindergarten Test

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Workshop Outline

• Purpose of the ACCESS for ELLs Test
• Kindergarten Test Design
• Kindergarten Test Administration
• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

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Purpose of the ACCESS for ELLs Test

• The ACCESS for ELLs test assesses students
  English language proficiency in five areas
  Social and Instructional Language (SI), which
  incorporates proficiencies needed to deal with
  the general language of the classroom and the
  school English Language Arts (LA), Mathematics
  (MA), Science (SC), and Social Studies (SS).
• As a secure test, the ACCESS for ELLs is used to
  satisfy state and federal requirements for the
  annual assessment of the English language
  proficiency of English language learners.

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Test Design and Administration
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Features of the Kindergarten Test

• All components are individually administered
• All components are scored by the TA during test
  administration ? allows for adaptivity (stop a
  test component when child reaches his/her
  ceiling)
• Averages 30 minutes total per student for all
  components
• Responses for Listening, Speaking, and Reading
  components are recorded by the TA
• Speaking component has 2 Parts (up to 8 tasks
  Speaking test for grades 1-12 have 3 Parts, or up
  to 13 tasks)

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Testing Materials

• The Kindergarten Picture Cue Booklet contains
• The pictures and response options presented to
  the student during the Listening, Speaking and
  Reading tests
• The Test Administrator Script for the Writing
  test
• Kindergarten Response Booklet and Teacher Script
  contains
• Test Administrator Script Student Response
  Record for the Listening test
• Test Administrator Script Student Response
  Record for the Speaking test
• Test Administrator Script Student Response
  Record for the Reading test
• Student Response Record (completed by student)
  for the Writing test

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General Test Administration Procedures

• Student responses must be recorded and scored as
  they are given.
• If an item within an administered Part is not
  administered for any reason, or if the student
  responds, I dont know, complete the column
  marked N/A. If an entire Part is not
  administered, it is not necessary to mark the N/A
  column.
• You should administer and score all items in any
  one Part of a section of the test before making a
  determination about whether to continue or to
  stop that section and move on to the next one.
• While the test is designed to take an average of
  30 minutes per student, kindergartners may need a
  couple of breaks during the test administration.
  Stretch breaks may be taken between domains of
  the test (for example, between the Listening and
  the Speaking sections). Note that the break time
  is not included in the total testing time.
• Unlike for the tests for grades 1 through 12, the
  Kindergarten student directly records his or her
  responses only for the Writing test.

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Accommodations

• In general, accommodations for students with
  disabilities are allowable, as outlined in IEP.
• Accommodations must not invalidate the test
  construct (e.g., TA reads items on the Reading
  test to the student).
• See Accommodations section of the Test
  Administration Manual for a list of allowable
  accommodations for the ACCESS test.

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Kindergarten Test Procedures

• The Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs test is
  administered in the following sequence
• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

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Kindergarten Listening Test
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Kindergarten Listening Test Administration
Information

• Keep the test going at a steady pace
• Follow pause times given in the script
• If the students shows excessive hesitation in
  responding, mark as N/A and move on to the next
  item or test, as appropriate.
• Follow the Teacher Script exactly
• For any item on the Listening Test, you may, if
  necessary, remind the student to Point to the
  picture that shows what I said one time.
• Do NOT repeat a listening item more than one time.

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Listening Test Practice Item

• Script First the boy and girl play catch, and
  then they ride their bikes.
• Find the set of pictures that shows this in the
  right order. PAUSE.

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Listening Test Recording Answers
Mark as N/A if the student does not respond.
Record the number correct in a Part to see if you
should continue testing.
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Kindergarten Speaking Test
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Kindergarten Speaking Test Administration
Information (1)

• Individually administered to students in an
  interview format like all components of the
  Kindergarten test, and like the Speaking tests
  for all other grade levels
• Arranged with progressively more demanding
  questions
• Designed to take up to 10 minutes per student
• Rated according to the expectations defined in
  the Speaking Test Scoring Rubric as responses are
  given

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Kindergarten Speaking Test Administration
Information (2)

• Speaking test consists of three scripted
  sections
• A warm-up in which the test administrator puts
  the student at ease
• The test questions
• A wind-down in which the test administrator
  leaves the student with a positive impression of
  his or her performance on the test.
• Test questions are grouped into thematic folders
  (identified as parts within the test).
• Each thematic folder includes a set of tasks and
  each task a set of questions.
• Each task and its questions addresses is aimed at
  eliciting speech at one particular proficiency
  level.

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Kindergarten Speaking Test Structure (1)
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Kindergarten Speaking Test Structure (2)
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Navigating the Kindergarten Speaking Test
Part A
Part B
END
T1
T1
T2
T2
If score on level is ?, Meets, or Exceeds, go to
next level task.
T3
T3
T4
If score on level is ?, Meets, or Exceeds, go to
next level task.
T5
If score on level is Approaches or No Response,
go to Task 1 of Part B.
If score on level is Approaches or No Response,
discontinue the Speaking Test.
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Sample Speaking Test Part
What the student sees in the Picture Cue Booklet
What the TA reads and records in the Response
Booklet and Teacher Script
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Speaking Test Script
Sample of Script

• The TA reads aloud all bold text in the script.
• Text in regular font (not bold) includes staging
  and navigation instructions to the TA. These
  instructions are not read aloud.
• Questions introduced by if necessary are
  conditional. Ask these probing questions only if
  the student has not yet demonstrated enough
  language for you, as the TA, to rate the current
  task.

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Task Level Expectations

• Every task and question asked the student is
  based on a set of expectations for what the
  response will look like. The TA rates each task
  holistically, considering the response to all
  questions in the task.
• Areas of speech around which scoring expectations
  are based
• Linguistic Complexity
• Expectations of the quantity and organization of
  the students verbal response
• Vocabulary Usage
• Expectations of the students use of appropriate
  vocabulary for grade level and proficiency level
  refers to language quality
• Language Control
• Expectations of the students control of English
  grammar, word choice in context, and the English
  sound system refers to language quality

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The Scoring Scale
Meets is highlighted on the scale to emphasize
that Meets is the expected score. Tasks are
designed to elicit speech that will meet (rather
than exceed) all expectations of the proficiency
level it targets.
Detailed instructions on how to interpret the
scoring scale are contained in the ACCESS for
ELL(s) District and School Test Administration
Manual and in the PowerPoint module titled
Administering the ACCESS for ELLs Speaking Test
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Scoring Rules (1)

• A rating of Meets or Exceeds receives a point
  value of 1.
• There are no extra points awarded a score of
  Exceeds.
• The Exceeds rating indicates a strong expectation
  that the student will be able to respond with at
  least a Meets rating to the following task in the
  test. Demonstrating language quantity or quality
  expected at a higher level than the current task
  on the rubric warrants a score of Exceeds.
• A rating of Approaches or No Response each
  receives a point value of 0.
• The 0 point value reflects the fact that the
  student did not respond, responded with I dont
  know or in the native language, or fell short of
  meeting any of the Task Level Expectations.

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Scoring Rules (2)

• Due to the adaptive nature of the test, the TA
  must make a rating immediately after the student
  responds to the last question in a task.
• If unsure whether to score a response Meets or
  Approaches, the ? (question mark) box can be
  marked. Then administer the next task if the
  response to the next task scores Meets or
  Exceeds, go back and rate the previous task (the
  one with ? marked) Meets. If the response to that
  next task scores Approaches or No Response, go
  back and rate the previous task Approaches. It is
  not necessary to erase the mark in the ? box, but
  ultimately a rating must be assigned to that
  task.
• The rating represents the students performance
  on the complete task, not individual questions on
  the task.

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Kindergarten Reading Test
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Kindergarten Reading Test Administration
Information

• Format Multiple choice
• Scoring Machine scored (by MetriTech)
• Follow the Test Administration Script exactly
• Students are not required to read anything aloud
  for this portion of the test (but may if it helps
  them decode or comprehend the text).

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Reading Test Practice Item
Teacher Script
What the student sees in the Picture Cue Booklet
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Kindergarten Writing Test
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Kindergarten Writing Test Administration
Information

• The Kindergarten Writing Test is an adaptive
  test.
• While administering the Writing Test, it is
  necessary only to determine whether a student
  qualifies to advance to the next task.
• Scoring and recording for each task should be
  completed after the student has finished testing.
• Note Remember to fully complete the Writing Test
  Scoring Sheet at the back of the Student Response
  Booklet after the student finishes the Writing
  Test!

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More Information on Kindergarten Writing

• Please see the stand-alone Scoring the ACCESS
  for ELLs Kindergarten Writing Test PowerPoint
  for more Writing test details and scoring
  practice.

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Questions or Comments?

• For more information, please contact the WIDA
  Hotline[phone] or www.wida.us/helpform

World Class Instructional Design and Assessment,
www.wida.us
Center for Applied Linguistics, www.cal.org
Metritech, Inc., www.metritech.com