Administering the Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs ®

1. Administering the Kindergarten ACCESSfor ELLs® Emily Evans, Center for Applied LinguisticsJanuary 2007New Jersey Department of Education Developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics

2. Training Goals • To understand the organization of the ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten test • To learn how to administer and reliably score the ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten Test

3. Workshop Outline • Kindergarten Test Design and Materials • Kindergarten Test Administration • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing

4. Test Design and Administration

5. Features of the Kindergarten Test • All components are individually administered in order to stop a test component when child reaches his/her ceiling • All components are scored by the Test Administrator (TA) during test administration • Administration averages 30 minutes total per student for all components • Responses for Listening, Speaking, and Reading components are recorded by the TA • Student writes his/her Writing test response(s) directly in the Student Response Booklet

6. 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 Student 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

7. General Test Administration Procedures • Student responses must be recorded and scored as they are given • If the student responds, “I don’t know,” complete the column marked N/A • 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

8. Accommodations • In general, accommodations for students with disabilities are allowable, as outlined in the 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 general ACCESS for ELLs® Test Administration Manual for a list of allowable accommodations

9. Test Sequence The Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs® test is administered in the following sequence: • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing

10. Preparing for Test Administration • Familiarize yourself with the Test Administrator Scripts for each portion of the Kindergarten Test prior to administering the test • You will need 2 sharpened pencils: one for you and one for the student • Testing should occur in a quiet room • Use a rectangular or circular table at which to test the student • Place yourself at a right angle to the student, rather than across from or right next to the student

11. Kindergarten Listening Test

12. Kindergarten Listening Test: Administration Information • Format: Multiple choice (individually administered) • Scoring: Machine scored (by MetriTech) • Follow the Test Administration Script exactly, including pauses. • Keep the test going at a steady pace • If the students shows excessive hesitation in responding, mark as N/A and move on to the next item or test, as appropriate • Do NOT read a listening item more than one time • 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

13. Listening Test: Practice Item Script:The boy and girl play with the ball, and then they ride their bikes. Find the pictures that shows this in the right order. PAUSE.

14. Listening Test: Recording Answers Mark as N/A if the student does not respond. Fill in the number correct in each Part and then determine if you should continue testing.

15. Kindergarten Speaking Test

16. Kindergarten Speaking Test: Administration Information (1) • Individually administered to students in an interview format, like the other components • 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 (Summary Chart of Task Level Expectations) as responses are given

17. 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 contains a set of questions. • Each task is aimed at eliciting speech at one particular proficiency level

18. Kindergarten Speaking Test: Structure (1)

19. A B Kindergarten Speaking Test: Structure (2)

20. 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.

21. 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:

22. Speaking Test 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 available to you if you need more evidence from the child to determine your rating Sample of Script

23. 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 student’s verbal response • Vocabulary Usage • Expectations of the student’s use of appropriate vocabulary for grade level and proficiency level; refers to language quality • Language Control • Expectations of the student’s control of English grammar, word choice in context, and the English sound system; refers to language quality

24. 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

25. 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 receives a point value of 0. • The 0 point value reflects the fact that the student did not respond, responded with “I don’t know” or in the native language, or fell short of meeting any of the Task Level Expectations.

26. 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 student’s performance on the complete task, not on individual questions in the task.

27. Kindergarten Reading Test

28. Kindergarten Reading Test: Administration Information • Format: Multiple choice (individually administered) • Scoring: Machine scored (by MetriTech) • Follow the Test Administration Script exactly

29. Reading Test: Practice Item Teacher Script: What the student sees in the Picture Cue Booklet:

30. Kindergarten Writing Test

31. Kindergarten Writing Test: Administration Information • The Kindergarten Writing Test is an adaptive, constructed-response test (individually administered). • 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 the entire Writing Test.

32. More Information on Kindergarten Writing Please see the stand-alone Scoring the ACCESS for ELLs® Kindergarten Writing TestPowerPoint for more Writing test details and scoring practice.

33. Questions or Comments? For more information, please contact the WIDA Hotline:1-866-276-7735 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