Testing English Learners

Test for identfying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=L83GxomNh2A
 English Learner (EL) 101 Part III: Identifying
Potential ELs
 Reviewing how a student is identified as an English Learner after enrollment.
 The first step is determining a student’s English Language Proficiency. This will determine
whether a student enters English Learner status.
 Also, will review the next steps after a student is identified as an English Learner.
 If any non-English language is listed on the original HLS, then that is the language reported for
students.
 If so, an LEA must assess for English Language Proficiency to determine EL status.
 A non-English HLS alone does not mean a student is an EL.

Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=L83GxomNh2A
 Continued Identifying Potential Els
 A student’s English Language Proficiency is determined through an English Language
Proficiency assessment. Indiana is a member of the WIDA consortium, and the KG Screeners
for Kindergarten and the WIDA Screeners for grades 1-12 are utilized as placement test.
 The placement test is administered once and is used to determine a student’s EL status after an
HLS with a non-English language is indicated during enrollment.
 After the placement test, students who are identified as English Learners are assessed annually
to determine current English Language Proficiency levels and whether the student maintains or
exits English Learner status.
 The annual assessments Indiana utilizes are the Kindergarten ACCESS, WIDA ACCESS, and
Alternate ACCESS for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
 It is used to assess the English proficiency of ELs each year; score is used as a criteria for
exiting EL services and to drive instruction.
 Administered to each EL annually until they exit from EL services (5.0 overall or above).

Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=L83GxomNh2A
 Continued Identifying Potential ELs
 Depending on the enrollment scenario, you may have to administer a placement OR acquire
ACCESS results from the former school to determine the student’s English proficiency and
English Learner status.
 One important note: you must complete WIDA Assessment training in order to administer and
score any WIDA assessments including the screeners.
 Both types of assessments- the placement tests and annual assessments will provide an overall
English Proficiency Level between 1.0 and 6.0. In Indiana, 5.0 is considered the cut score for
English Learner status.
 If a student’s overall score is between a 1.0 and 4.9, they qualify for English Learners services.
 If the student scores a 5.0 or above they are not considered an English Learner.
 If the score of 5.0 or more occurs on a placement test, no further action is needed.
 If a student enrolling has a past annual ACCESS score of 5.0 or more, they may be within the
two-year formal monitoring period.
Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=L83GxomNh2A
 Continued Identifying Potential ELs
 EL status must be determined within 30 calendar days of enrolling at beginning of the school year, or
within two weeks if enrollment is after the beginning of the school year.
 If the student is enrolling from within Indiana, reach out to past school to acquire scores, and check
assessment results on the student’s profile.
 Only if it has been determined that the student does NOT have an up-to-date assessment within the past
academic year should you administer a placement test to determine English Proficiency.
 Otherwise, their latest assessment results will determine their EL status.
 Enrolling from a WIDA State you can request past assessment results in place of administering a
placement test. The result of the most recent assessment- if it occurred within the past academic year,
will determine the student’s EL status.
 Keep in mind that other states use a different cut score to determine EL status.

Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=L83GxomNh2A
 Continued Identifying Potential Els
 If a student is enrolling from a non-WIDA state, out of the country, or its their initial enrollment
in kindergarten, a placement test should be administered to determine EL status.
 Note that if a student is enrolling in Pre-K, they are not administered a placement test and do
not have English Learner status until Kindergarten.
 After a student has been properly identified as an English Learner, the next steps are to start
preparing for services. These include: 1. Sending home an annual parent notification letter, 2.
creating and individualized Learning Plan, or ILP, for the student, 3. determine appropriate
English Language development services. It is also important to maintain English learner-related
documentation in the student’s cumulative folder. This would include the HLS, the placement
test and results, a copy of the annual parent notification letter, a copy of the ILP, annual
ACCESS assessment results, and any other documentation pertaining to EL services.

Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=L83GxomNh2A
 English Learner- 101 Part VIII: Exiting,
Monitoring, Reclassifying
 When a student scores a 5.0 or higher overall composite score on WIDA ACCESS, the student is
reclassified as fluent in English and formally exited from EL programming.
 Exited students enter two-year formal monitoring period.
 Former Els will still be included in the Multilingual Learner data collection annually but will no
longer generate state and federal funding.
 First-time enrollees who initially test at a 5.0 or high on the WIDA Screener or Kindergarten
Screener do not enter a monitoring period. They are considered fluent upon enrollment.
 School districts must monitor the academic progress of former Els for at least two years to ensure
they are meaningful participating in the district’s educational program in a manner that is
comparable to their native English-speaking peers and comparable to other ELs who exited at the
same time.
 Monitoring processes are defined locally, but schools must implement a formal process and
maintain robust documentation for their ELs and content teachers to monitor former ELs.

Exiting, Monitoring, and re-entering ELs in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ugBM5e6os

 Continued Exiting, Monitoring, Reclassifying
 Upon completion of the two-year monitoring period, local education agencies much ensure:
 Former ELs who have been reclassified as fluent have full access to mainstream curricula.
 Any academic deficits resulting from lack of English proficiency has been addressed and
remedied.
 Any recurring language needs identified through the monitoring process have been addressed
and remedied.
 Former ELs are meaningful participating in the standard instructional program in a manner
comparable to their native English-speaking peers.

Exiting, Monitoring, and re-entering ELs in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ugBM5e6os

 Continued Exiting, Monitoring, Reclassifying
 Students in monitoring can receive access to all support services provided through the English
language department program if needed.
 Students in monitoring can not receive state testing accommodations, such as an ILP or WIDA
Access Assessment. Unless a student has an IEP or is being assessed for reclassification as an
English Learner.
 Some suggested indicators for monitoring documentation are the following: student grades in
all content areas, summative and formative assessment data (including state assessments),
content teacher observations, EL staff observations, teacher observations of student progress in
the four language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as behavior and
attendance data.
 Schools must establish rigorous monitoring systems, which include regular discussions and
evaluation of student progress.

Exiting, Monitoring, and re-entering ELs in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ugBM5e6os

 Continued Exiting, Monitoring, Reclassifying
 Re-entry into an EL program there must be an instances where students meet the state criteria for
reclassification as fluent without having truly attained English proficiency.
 Re-administer the appropriate WIDA Screener or Kindergarten Screener to determine if the student meets
the Indiana criteria for EL eligibility.
 Maintain local documentation of all supporting sources of data, evidence of interventions implemented,
evidence of student’s eligibility for reentry after re-administration of the WIDA Screener or Kindergarten
Screener, and secured parent/guardian consent.
 This process may be implemented for students who were identified as fluent upon enrollment from scoring
a 5.0 or above on the WIDA Screener of Kindergarten Screener.
 A student who is formally reentered in the English Learner program should be provided with an individual
learning plan.
 The student will be assessed annually with the State English Language Proficiency Assessment until again
meeting the Indiana exit criteria.
 This process may be implemented for students who were identified as fluent upon enrollment, from scoring
a 5.0 or above on the WIDA screener or kindergarten screener.
Exiting, Monitoring, and re-entering ELs in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ugBM5e6os
English Learners-101 Part VII: Assessment of ELs
 There are two different types of placement test, the kindergarten screener, commonly referred to
as the K. Screener, and the WIDA Screener for grades 1-12.
 The placement test consist of four domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
 Test administrators must complete the appropriate WIDA assessment training course prior to
administering and scoring screener assessments.
 The Kindergarten Screener is a one-on-one paper-based only, which is scored locally by the test
administrator. Raw scores are entered into score calculators to convert to composite scores. The
first semester kindergarten students only participate in the listening and speaking domains.
 The WIDA screener is primarily online: paper testing is available in circumstances. Speaking
and Writing domains scored locally by test administrators. During the first semester, students at
the beginning of a grade level cluster should participate in the pervious grade level cluster test
form.

Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA

 Continued Assessment of ELs
 WIDA assesses listening, reading, speaking, and writing in the four language domains.
 WIDA screener assessments are used to identify and inform initial programmatic placement of English
Learners of ELs and WIDA access.
 WIDA access is the summative assessments that are administered annually to determine ELs’ current levels of
English proficiency and to monitor student progress. It is federally required that 100% of EL students
participate.
 Both types of assessments will provide an overall English language proficiency level between 1.0 and 6.0, as
well as proficiency levels in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
 For a student to be considered an English Learner, their overall score must be between 1.0 and 4.9, with 5.0
being the current cut score for Indiana.
 On the placement test if a student scores a 5.0 or above then they will continue without EL services, as would
any English-speaking student.
 If a student scores a 5.0 on above on the annual assessment, they exit the EL status and then will enter a two
year monitoring period.
Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA
 Continued Assessment of ELs
 Per federal requirements, placement tests must be administered within 30 calendar days of
enrollment if it occurs at the beginning of the year and within two weeks if enrollment occurs after
the beginning of the year.
 Alternate access for ELs proficiency levels include, A1: initiating, A2: exploring, A3: engaging, P1:
entering, P2: emerging, and P3: developing.
 Intended for ELs with sever cognitive disabilities.
 Eligibility determined by case conference committee: if student take or will take, I AM-Alternate
ACCESS is appropriate.
 Not currently available for kindergarten students: all kindergarten ELs take Kindergarten ACCESS.
 As of yet, no exit criteria has been established for alternate access participants.
 Assessment is given one-on-one and is paper-based.
 Test administrators must complete the corresponding training course prior to administration and
scoring.
Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA
 Continued Assessment of ELs
 Accommodations available to ELs on statewide assessments:
 Student permitted to read aloud to him or herself.
 Text-to-speech *except reading comprehension.
 Extended time
 Additional breaks (as needed)
 Bilingual dictionary (utilize only if student is literate in native language)
 Individual testing
 Accommodations must be documented in students ILP and be familiar to the student.

Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA

 Continued Assessment of ELs
 Designated features available to students on state content assessments:
Stacked Spanish translations
 Eligible students who are literate in Spanish may benefit from stack Spanish translations for
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Biology, and U.S. Government.
Language Glossaries
 Eligible students may benefit from a glossary of translated terms for specific assessment items
for ILEARN Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
 Language glossaries in Spanish, Burmese, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese are provided.
 If selected, the student can only receive the language glossary and not the English glossary as
well.

Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA

 English Learner 101 Part X: EL students with
disabilities
Legal background
 Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964- EL students should have access to all programs,
including that of special education.
 Individuals with disabilities education act- EL students must not be found eligible for special
education services under IDEA if the determining factor is limited English proficiency.
 IDEA requires that in development of an IEP for a student with limited English proficiency, the
IEP team considers the language needs of the child.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
ELs and Special Education
 Local educational agencies must identify, locate, and evaluate ELs with disabilities in a timely
manner.
 LEAs must provide EL students with disabilities with both the language assistance and
disability-related services they are entitled to under federal law.
 To meet students’ needs, the Individualized Education Program team should include
professionals with training and expertise in second language acquisition and how to
differentiate between student needs stemming from their disability or lack of English
proficiency.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
EL student evaluation for Special Education
 Evaluation of an EL student is only appropriate if consistent, objective monitoring conducted
by EL and general education staff indicates that the student is significantly struggling and that
the student’s academic struggles are not related to a lack of English proficiency.
 Evaluations must be conducted by professionals who are able to select and administer
procedures so that results are not biased by the child’s culture or language.
Article 7- What does it mean for EL students?
 Utilize current English proficiency data to determine if an English-based evaluation tool is
appropriate and would yield accurate results.
 Do not use English-only evaluation for EL students with lower proficiency levels; utilize non-
verbal or native language testing as appropriate.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
Conducting an initial educational evaluation
 The multidisciplinary team conducting initial evaluation must include individuals with
knowledge of language acquisition, which can include EL staff.
 Relevant English proficiency data (i.e. WIDA ACCESS) and classroom observations should be
shared and interpreted to examine the effects on the EL students’ achievement.
Determination of eligibility
 Qualified EL staff (i.e. EL teacher of record) should be included in the case conference
committee and participate in the meeting to provide information that will assist the committee
in making the eligibility determination.
Specific learning disability
 A specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of
limited English proficiency.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
Student is suspected of having a specific learning disability
 When an EL is evaluated for a suspected specific learning disability, the multidisciplinary team
must include in its evaluation report a synthesis of the educational evaluation components in
relationship to the effects of limited English proficiency on the student’s achievement.
CCC participants
 Teachers providing core English language development services should be included in the CCC
to provide the expertise needed to allow the committee to meet the unique needs of the student.
 EL paraprofessionals can also provide useful knowledge regarding the student’s current level of
performance and rate of acquisition of English.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
Developing an IEP
 When the case conference committee is developing an IEP for a student, it must consider the language
needs of an English Learner as those needs relate to the student’s IEP.
 All staff that provide services to the student need to collaborate when determining appropriate goals,
taking into consideration language acquisition.
Notices to parents and participation in CCC meetings
 The written notice of an educational evaluation that the school sends to the parent must be provided in the
native language of the parent.
 The written notice of a CCC meeting that the school sends to the parent must be in the parent’s native
language.
 The school must take whatever action necessary to ensure that the parent understands the CCC meeting.

Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A

 Continued EL students with disabilities
Assessments
 Accommodations via the IEP or Section 504 Plan and Individual Learning Plan must be
honored on all state and local assessments.
 ELs with disabilities must be administered the annual English language proficiency
assessments, WIDA ACCESS.
 Students with severe cognitive disabilities may be eligible to take the WIDA Alternate ACCESS
assessment.

Test for identfying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=L83GxomNh2A
 Reference List
 Assessment of ELs in the state of IN. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFdC4E2PxA
 Assessing ELs for Special Education services in IN. (n.d.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV9LVgoSk2A
 Exiting, Monitoring, and re-entering ELs in IN. (n.d.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ugBM5e6os
 Test for identifying English Language Learners and their level of English Proficiency. (n.d.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83GxomNh2A