WIDA Standards for English Learners

WIDA Information

WIDA Access

Indiana adopted the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English language development standards and ACCESS will be the new English proficiency assessment,  replacing the current use of LAS Links.

Tentative State Testing Windows

The WIDA Access for ELLs, and the Alternate Access for English learners with severe disabilities. These assessments will be given annually during these tentative state testing window dates: January 10, 2022 through February 25, 2022. All students identified as Limited-English Proficient enrolled in the school, are required to be assessed during the testing window.

View this infographic for more details.

Kindergarten Students

Students in the Kindergarten grade levels will be individually assessed. All students will take the same adaptive test, where all domains (Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing) are tested twice.

Grades 1-12

Student assessments will be categorized by tiers within a particular grade span to determine current level English proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Alternative Assessment

The WIDA alternative assessment will be administered to students who are currently in our Life Skills classrooms.  The case conference committee will decide what is best for students in terms of testing.

Standards for English Learners

The Indiana Department of Education has adopted the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English Language Development (ELD) standards for English Learners. The goal of these new standards is to advance academic language development and academic achievement for linguistically diverse students. There are a total of 5 ELD standards in the WIDA framework:

Social and Instructional Language: ELL’s communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting.
The Language of Language Arts: ELL’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
The Language of Mathematics: ELL’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.
The Language of Science: ELL’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.
The Language of Social Studies: ELL’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

WIDA is based on the Can Do Philosophy that states linguistically and culturally diverse learners, in particular, bring a unique set of assets that have the potential to enrich the experiences of all learners and educators when given the opportunity to express themselves through language performance at many different levels. The Can Do Descriptors Chart provides exemplars of what ELLs may be able to do to demonstrate comprehension in listening and reading as well as production in speaking and writing within a school setting.

Please visit the WIDA website and WIDA Download Library for more information and resources regarding our new state standards for ELL’s.