TO: Indiana Public School Corporation Superintendents

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Indiana Public School Corporation Superintendents FROM: Nathan Williamson, Director of Title Grants and Support Dr. Charity Flores, Director of Assessment DATE: February 10th, 2017 SUBJECT: WIDA ACCESS Standard Setting & Impact on English Learner Services

In an effort to ensure the WIDA ACCESS 2.0 assessment is better aligned to College and Career Ready assessments for Indiana’s English learners, WIDA underwent the process of standard setting. As a result, WIDA determined that the scoring standards for ACCESS for ELLS 2.0 will be raised. Beginning with the 2016-2017 administration of WIDA ACCESS, students will need to demonstrate a higher level of English skills to achieve the same WIDA ACCESS proficiency levels (1.0-6.0). This allows students who exit the English learner program to have a greater potential for success on ISTEP+ due to its increased language demands.

As such, we expect that some student proficiency level scores on WIDA ACCESS 2.0 will drop compared to the previous test administration. Districts can expect to see lower exit rates as fewer students meet the Indiana exit criteria by scoring a 5.0 overall composite proficiency level. Public schools will need to utilize this information in order to deliver the federally required English learner services for eligible students in the 2017-2018 school year.

In the coming weeks, WIDA will publish additional information regarding the specific standard changes across grade and proficiency levels. More information can be found on the WIDA website and will be shared with the field as it becomes available.

The IDOE Office of Title Grants and Support will hold a webinar to explain the standard setting process in greater detail. The Standard Setting will also be discussed at our state EL Leadership meeting on March 15th. Both opportunities are open to everyone.

WIDA Standard Setting WebEx EL Leadership Meeting March 13th, 2017 March 15th, 2017 3:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. EDT 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. EDT http://tinyurl.com/WIDAStandardSetting Pike Township Schools Meeting number: 641 158 813 6901 Zionsville Rd, Call-in number: 1-678-981-8728 Indianapolis, IN 46268

Please email Cole Dietrich at [email protected] or call 317-233-0786 with any questions or concerns.