Assessment: ELPA and Woodcock-Muñoz

1. Assessment:ELPA and Woodcock-Muñoz Services for English Learners North Clackamas School District

2. What is the ELPA? • The ELPA is the English Language Proficiency Assessment which is one of the required Oregon State assessments • The NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Act mandates that English-Learners in K-12th grade are assessed annually by the ELPA • The ELPA is administered in a web-based format to all students who qualify for services during the current school-year which begins July 1st. This includes students who enroll in the district after the NCSD testing window closes through the last day of the state testing window

3. Who is eligible to take the ELPA? • Students currently served in English Language Development • Students whose parents have refused services • Students who exited after July 1st of the current school year • *Students whose parents refuse participation in state testing do not need to be assessed with the ELPA • *For students on IEPs, accomodations and modifications can be found in the most current Test Administration Manual published by the Oregon Department of Education

4. What does the ELPA assess? • The ELPA has separate measures for listening, speaking, reading and writing • Scores are reported in each of these domains as well as in comprehension. A composite score is also reported • These measures all address Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards

5. What is the format of the ELPA? • The test has the same format for all grade levels but has different forms for five grade bands: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. There are three different levels within each grade band • The ELPA begins with approximately 30 test items that serve as a locator tool to help determine which leveled version of the ELPA each student will take • Once the correct level has been determined, students complete approximately 50 test items that are then scored to determine the student’s proficiency level

6. How is the ELPA administered? • The ELPA is administered by a trained ELD Specialist. Only Certified personnel may administer the test • Bilingual Instructional Assistants may assist with: computer/headphone set-up and testing, tracking student completion, escorting students to and from testing, arranging for lab time and computer use, assisting with monitoring students during testing, explaining the purpose of the ELPA or answering questions during the practice tests

7. When should the ELPA be administered? • The testing window is set each year by the State • Generally this window extends from January to May • NCSD generally sets the window from January to March (Spring Break) • Results are available 6 weeks following the end of the month the student took the test in. Scores for tests completed during April or later will not be available until school is out for the summer

8. How is the ELPA scored? • Proficiency ratings are assigned by ODE data managers • Parts of the test are hand scored • Students scoring a 5 on the ELPA must either be exited from services or retained after a parent meeting • If there is other evidence showing proficiency, students who score a 4 on the ELPA may be promoted from service

9. What is the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-Revised (WMLS-R)? • The WMLS-R is a nationally-normed measure of English Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), developed by Riverside Publishing • It is comprised of 7 tests, each measuring different aspects of English Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing proficiency

10. What are the 7 different tests? • Test 1- Picture Vocabulary measures aspects of oral language and requires identifying pictured objects • Test 2- Verbal Analogies measures the ability to reason using lexical knowledge and requires listening to three words of an analogy and then completing it with a fourth word • Test 3-Letter-Word Identification measures letter and word identification skills and requires identifying the letters of the alphabet. It also requires correctly identifying a word read by the examiner from a list of words on a page and then to fluently read words • Test 4- Dictation contains some items measuring pre-writing skills and then items measuring spelling, punctuation, capitalization and word usage • Test 5-Understanding Directions measures aspects of oral language and requires listening to a sequence of audio-recorded instructions and then following directions by pointing at various objects • Test 6- Story Recall measures aspects of oral language and requires subjects to listen to a story and recall as many details as possible • Test 7- Passage Comprehension measures how well a subject reads and understands written discourse. The section requires matching and supplyin missing words from short written passages

11. How is the WMLS-R administered? • A full-day training is offered in the fall of every school year to ELD Specialists and Instructional Assistants that have not yet been trained • Newly trained staff must give several tests with an experienced test administer before testing on their own • The test takes up to 90 minutes to administer, depending on the level of the student • It is not necessary to administer all 7 tests in one session but the entire assessment should be completed within a week of the start dateff

12. What will you need for the test session? • A quiet place with few visual distractions, with a table and 2 chairs • Two sharpened pencils • Audio CD for Tests 5 and 6 • CD player or computer to play the CD • Test Book, Test Record, and Dictation Worksheet for the WMLS-R Form being administered (A or B) • WMLS-R Comprehensive Manual, or “Administering the WMLS-R” handout from the training * Each school has a WMLS-R Test Kit

13. What is the role of the Instructional Assistant? • Record keeping and scheduling of testing • Bringing students to and from testing area • Entering scores electronically from Test Records that have been hand-scored by the tester • Sending and filing completed Test Records and Score Reports • Setting up testing station and materials * The Instructional Assistant may not administer the test

14. What is done by the ELD Specialist after the WMLS-R is administered? • Assure that all 7 tests have been correctly hand-scored and the “number correct” or “number of points” boxes have been filled in accurately • Check that the full name of the student, eSIS ID#, date of birth, examiner’s name and qualifying language have been correctly entered • Elementary and Middle School ELD Specialists send the Test Records to Services for English Learners to be electronically scored and entered into eSIS. Original records and electronic scores sheets will be sent back to the ELD Specialist • High School ELD Programs enter the data into the WMLS-R scoring system at their site and then send a copy of the score report to Services for English Learners to be entered into eSIS • All original WMLS-R Test Records and Score Reports are filed in the purple folder in the student’s CUM folder

15. How are the WMLS-R scores interpreted? • The RPI (Relative Proficiency Index) score gives an estimate of the difficulty an English-learner is likely to experience in an academic language task, relative to the difficulty that would be experienced by a fluent English classmate performing the same task • The CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) score assigns a level of English proficiency on a scale of 1 through 6, with 1 being “negligible proficiency” and 6 being “very advanced proficiency”, again comparing English-learners with fluent English peers of the same age or grade levelc

16. How is the WMLS-R used to determine eligibility? • The results of all 7 tests are configured into Clusters • Eligibility is determined by the scores on the following three clusters: Oral Language Total, Reading and Writing • Any student who scores lower than 85 RPI in any of these 3 clusters is eligible for Services for English Learners, including English Language Development classes and sheltered instruction • Any student with scores of 85 RPI or higher in all 3 clusters is determined “ineligible for Services for English Learners” • Eligibility must be determined during or shortly after the time of registration to ensure that services are started promptly, to meet the district’s legal requirements for providing service and because State funding is dependant on the process

17. How can we use the WMLS-R scores to measure growth? • All identified NCSD English Learners will be assessed in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th grades • Alternating forms of the assessment will be used in alternating years, but either Form A or Form B may be used for the initial assessment • The WMLS-R is also a useful piece of data for educators when considering the appropriateness of other special services

18. How can we use the WMLS-R scores to guide instruction? • Because the test is divided into the different aspects of the English Language (speaking, listening, reading and writing) you can use the student’s strengths and weaknesses in lesson planning • Example: a students scores high on the Reading Test but low on the Reading Comprehension Test and Picture Vocabulary Test would probably benefit from instruction focused on vocabulary building • Example: a student who scores low on the Word Identification Test and Dictation Test but high on the Picture Vocabulary Test and Story Recall Test would benefit from more instruction on English spelling patterns and grammatical rules • Example: an advanced score on the Verbal Analogies Test might warrant further consideration for TAG status

19. How can WMLS-R scores be used for exit documentation? • A WMLS-R score of 80 RPI through 100 RPI on any of the 11 clusters acts as a trigger for beginning the documentation process for Review for Exit • Decisions about exit are not solely based on the WMLS-R scores, but the scores may be a prompt for gathering other evidence of proficiency • The WMLS-R may be administered at any time in order to gain additional evidence for the Exit Portfolio

20. Questions