Preparing to administer the ACCESS for ELLs can be a
time-consuming process for test administrators and district level test
coordinators alike. Recently I had the
chance to interview Rosemarie Meyer, Assistant Superintendent for Bilingual/ESL Programs in Community Consolidated
School District 21 in Wheeling, Illinois.
Just over 37% of CCSD 21 students are English language learners. She shared some tips that have helped
her
maintain her sanity and increase inter-rater reliability among her test
administrators.
TIP #1: All hands
on deck! Review your state’s requirements
regarding who can and cannot be a test administrator for the ACCESS test. Then train everyone that you can to give the
ACCESS. Illinois allows any properly trained certified teacher to give the
ACCESS. In CCSD #21, a team of
experienced ACCESS test administrators trains their colleagues, including
district administrators, building principals, technology teachers, speech
language pathologists and general education teachers. The goal is to have students tested by
someone they already know while making sure that the test administrator does
not let what they already know about the student influence the score that the
student receives.
TIP #2: Provide
face-to-face training in addition to the online
training through the WIDA website.
In Rosemarie’s district, they have created a multi-phase training process
for test administrators (TAs). It looks
like this:
Timeline
|
District-required Training in CCSD#21
|
New Test Administrators
|
Veteran Test Administrators
|
3 months before ACCESS
|
Two and a half hours of face-to-face training conducted by
central office staff members from the ESL/bilingual department.
|
Must attend
|
Optional
|
2 months before ACCESS
|
Additional two and a half hours of face-to-face training
conducted by central office staff members from the ESL/bilingual department.
By this time, new TAs must have logged onto WIDA website
and also completed the online training modules.
|
Must attend
|
Optional
|
1 month before ACCESS
|
Two hour training for all TAs on the same day
district-wide. This includes a review
of general test administration procedures through a game format (e.g.
Jeopardy, etc). It also includes a detailed review of speaking procedures and additional practice with scoring
student samples. It is scheduled in
several locations simultaneously and is part of the regular district
Professional Development calendar.
This training is created by the Bilingual/ESL Instructional
Specialists who train colleagues to present this PD across the district.
|
Required
|
Required
|
2 weeks before ACCESS
|
Log on to the WIDA website and review the speaking
section.
|
Required
|
Required
|
ACCESS testing
|
Buddy system for the first few speaking tests: New TA observes a veteran give the test,
then veteran observes the new TA giving the test.
|
Required
|
Optional
|
When testing time comes, the district makes arrangements for
“an onslaught of substitute teachers.”
These substitute teachers cover the kindergarten rooms, while the
kindergarten teachers test their students.
The same is true for students with IEPs.
As a general rule of thumb, Rosemarie plans for one substitute teacher
for one day per classroom in grades 1-8 in order to complete the speaking tests,
and one substitute for three days per classroom for the kindergarten
tests.
Rosemarie's district has successfully used this multi-phase
training plan for several years. She has
noticed three main benefits of this plan.
First, CCSD#21 has high levels of inter-rater reliability among their
TAs. Also more people in the district
understand and are more interested in the ACCESS for ELLs scores because of
their involvement with the administration of the test. Finally, testing is completed in a timely
fashion and the focus of the schools returns to teaching and learning!
Thank you, Rosemarie, for sharing your advice with the
Consortium!
Written by: Tammy King
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