This morning the Lincoln School’s ELL Team hosted a family coffee hour for caregivers. The event prepared families for the school’s upcoming ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) English language proficiency assessments.
English learners from kindergarten through grade 12 take the ACCESS annually.
Educators at the Lincoln use ACCESS results, along with other resources from WIDA, to make decisions about their students' English academic language and to facilitate their language development.
Students' scores reflect proficiency levels ranging from Level 1 (Entering) to Level 6 (Reaching).
Test scores can be used:
- For accountability purposes
- These serve as benchmarks against which educators can measure future performance
- As a measure to make reclassification decisions about whether a student can exit English language support services
- To support decisions about placing students into appropriate classes or groups for instruction, instructional planning
- To show the progress students have made
The test, administered from kindergarten through grade 12 to students who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs), monitors progress in learning academic English.
Overall, the test assesses the four language domains of listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
“Our goal for the students is to just have them do better than they did last year,” said Lincoln School educator Danielle Wilson. “I show my students their scores, and I just tell them, ‘This is your score in first grade so you just want to do better than last year.' So even if the grade goes up a point or two it shows they are making progress. For example, if a student got a 1.9 last year and they get a 2.1 this year that's great, because it's better than last year and shows they are improving.”
See more photos here.