Testing Schedule & Special Instructions for Pennsylvania

2014 – 2015 Academic Year

Task / Start Date / End Date
Test Window / 01/26/2015 / 03/06/2015
Order Additional Materials Deadline / 02/20/2015
PIMS ACCESS for ELLs Data Collection Period / 03/06/2015 / 03/13/2015
LEA’s Pack Completed Material / 03/06/2015 / 03/13/2015
LEA’s Ship Completed Material to MT / 03/13/2015
All Materials Received at MT / 03/18/2015
MetriTech Data Validation website and PIMS ACCESS for ELLs March 7 Snapshot Validation open for LEAs to correct demographic information / 04/16/2015 / 04/21/2015
PIMS ACCESS for ELLS March 7 Snapshot data corrections and Metritech Data Validation website corrections (only for LEAs notified by PDE) / 05/07/2015 / 05/12/2015
Reports Shipped to LEA’s / 06/08/2015 / 06/11/2015*

*Subject to change depending on timely receipt of all test booklets at MetriTech and timely correction of PIMS and MetriTech data by LEAs.

Special Instructions and Information:

  • A Local Education Agency (LEA) is a district, charter school, comprehensive CTC, Intermediate Unit (IU), Approved Private School (APS), Private Residential Rehabilitative Institution (PRRI), and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Program.
  • ALL districts, charter schools, cyber charter schools, comprehensive CTCs, IUs, APS, PRRIs, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Programs who have ELLs who are being educated at their sites are required to order testing materials for these ELLs and to ensure that an educator certified to administer the ACCESS for ELLs, most likely the teacher providing ESL services to these students, administers the ACCESS for ELLs assessment.
  • Districtscharter schools, cyber charter schools, comprehensive CTCs that have students that are enrolled but are receiving their educational services at a site other than thedistrict, charter school, cyber charter school, or comprehensive CTC, (such as an IU, APS, PRRI, AEDY) remain responsible for the education of these ELL students. Therefore, they must ensure that the ACCESS for ELLs assessment is ordered by these educating entities and is administeredthere by an educator certified to administer the ACCESS for ELLs. In most cases, this is the educator providing the ESL instruction at the educating site.
  • ALL identified ELLs, including students with disabilities,placed in an ESL or Bilingual language instruction educational program must be administered the ACCESS for ELLs as required federally through NCLB. ELLs with significant cognitive disabilities that prevent their meaningful participation in the ACCESS for ELLs assessment may be administered the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs as required federally through IDEA. IEP teams determine whether an ELL with significant cognitive disabilities meets the Pennsylvania eligibility criteria for participation in the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. For all ELLs with disabilities, participation in ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS with or without accommodations must be documented in the IEP under IV. Participation in State and Local Assessments. Additional instructions are included underSpecial Instructions and Information for 2015Administration of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. If an IEP states that the student should defer participation from one or more of the domains of the ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS, the appropriate box must be filled inbeside Deferred Special Education/504 (SPD) in field 22 on the test booklet.
  • Exited and monitored 1st year students, exited and monitored 2nd year students, and exited and no longer monitored former ELLs DO NOT take the ACCESS for ELLs assessment.
  • Pennsylvania adheres to WIDA’s guidelines when considering appropriate accommodations for English language learners with disabilities. Since ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs are language proficiency tests and have certain standard features that might lessen the need for accommodations, the accommodations provided in the District and School Test Administration Manual apply only to ELLs with disabilities, and the testing accommodation provided should be stated in the student’s IEP or 504 Plan. No student, including those students with disabilities, should be required to continue the assessment if evidence of the frustration level and/or inability to continue is evident. HOWEVER, students should be encouraged to complete as much of the assessment as possible. See page 24 of theDistrict and School Test Administration Manual for instructions on how to code students with exemptions for Special Education/504 reasons.
  • The State, through MetriTech, will provide a paper copy of individual student assessment results and district overall results. MetriTech will post on the MetriTech secure server all student data for LEAs to download. Upon request, MetriTech will provide LEAs with a CD containing this data at no cost, so long as the order is received prior to the shipment of score reports. Assessment results will also be provided through the eMetric Data Interaction Toolfor ACCESS for ELLs. To obtain information and/or request a username and password for the eMetric Data Interaction Tool, superintendents must contact Stephen Novakovich at the Pennsylvania Department of Education at (717) 346-9673.
  • Nonpublic students that do not receive Title III supplemental services through the school district or consortium are not assessed with the ACCESS for ELLs assessment. If your LEA does provide Title III supplemental services to nonpublic students and uses the ACCESS for ELLs assessment as the tool to measure the effectiveness of the services provided, you need to appropriately bubble the nonpublic student’s testing booklet in the State Defined Optional Data fields to identify this student as a nonpublic student. Pennsylvania uses this field to remove nonpublic students from the LEA’s AMAO calculations.
  • Students from another state or country who arrive in an LEA on or after February 20, 2015,are not required to be assessed using the ACCESS for ELLs for the 2015 testing year. This allows LEAs time to make informed placement decisions for newly enrolling students. Students from another state or country who arrive in an LEA prior to February 21, 2015, and are placed in your ESL Program must be administered the ACCESS for ELLs assessment for the 2014 testing year. If you have exhausted all of the overage testing materials received from MetriTech, you can order testing materials for those students via email at . Please include in your email your LEA name, address, and contact person. Also, specify the grade level and tier for each booklet requested, and the quantity needed. If additional materials cannot be ordered by email, FAX the “Additional Materials Order Form” which was included within your original testing materials order, to (217) 398-5798. MetriTech has a quick turnaround in getting additional testing materials out to LEAs, usually within 24 hours.
  • In the case of a transfer student from another Pennsylvania school or district, who has not been administered all sections of the ACCESS for ELLs test, the receiving LEA must make every effort to ensure that all components of the ACCESS for ELLs assessment are administered prior to the close of the testing window.
  • If you need to bubble the demographic information for a student on the ACCESS for ELLs test booklet, the language codes used by Pennsylvania can be found in the PIMS Volume 2 Manual (refer to Appendix J) Select the 2014-2015 PIMS Manual Volume 2from the list of files available. If you are unable to find a particular language in the list provided, please search to see if variants of the name of the language exist.

Procedures/Guidelines for Transfer and Withdrawal Students

  • If the student is administered the entire ACCESS for ELLs assessment prior to transfer or withdraw, the LEA returns the test booklet with scorable materials under a School Header Sheet to MetriTech. The LEA does not bubble data in column four of the State Defined Optional Data. The LEA receives a score report.
  • If a student is administered one or more sections (but not all sections)of the ACCESS for ELLs test and moves out of state or out of the country, the LEA returns the test booklet with scorable materials under a School Header Sheet to MetriTech. The LEA doesbubble data in column four of the State Defined Optional Data. The LEA receives a score report.
  • If a student is administered one or more sections (but not all sections)of the ACCESS for ELLs test in one school and transfers to another school (may or may not be a new district), the student is administered the remaining sections of the ACCESS for ELLs assessment at the receiving school or districtusing a second test booklet. ACCESS for ELLs test booklets are not transported from one school or district to another. The sending and receiving school or district bubbles data in column five of the State Defined Optional Data for transfer students. The sending and receiving school or district must each fill out a “Student Transfer Form.” The sending school or district must contact the receiving school or district in order to ensure the student’s completion of the ACCESS for ELLs assessment and to confirm accuracy of the Student Transfer Form. The sendingschool or district receives the score report and is responsible to forward a copy to the receiving school.
  • The “Student Transfer Form” can be accessed by downloading it from the login page of MetriTech’s online ordering database or by contacting WIDA Support at MetriTech at 1-800-747-4868 or at .
  • The sending LEA may fax its completed Student Transfer Form to assist the receiving LEA in completing its Student Transfer Form accurately. Both the sending and receiving schools or districts paper-clip their completed Student Transfer Forms to the front of the test booklets and return the test booklets with scorablematerials under aSchool Header Sheet to Metritech. This allows tested components in separate test booklets to be combined into one complete assessment by MetriTech.
  • A student should be administered each ACCESS for ELLs component only once during Pennsylvania’s testing window. Students should not be re-administered any component of the 2015 ACCESS for ELLs assessment.

Procedures/Guidelines for Completing the School Header Sheet

  • For districts, charter schools, and comprehensive CTCs, a School Header Sheet must be placed on top of scorablematerials. LEAs must provide on the School Header Sheet the district number (9 digit AUN#) and name, along with the school number (4 digit #) and name. Test materials returned for students under a School Header Sheet are attributed to the LEA identified on the School Header Sheet.
  • For IUs, APSs, PRRIs, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Programs, a School Header Sheet must be placed on top of scorablematerials. School Header Sheets include the ordering entities name/number and school name/number pre-printed on the form. Therefore, these types of entities must cross out the pre-printed names and numbers on the School Header Sheet and hand-write the district of residence, the district of residence 9 digit AUN number, the school name, and 4-digit school numberindicating the locations where the student would have attended if the student were not receiving educational services off site. This will ensure accurate attribution of students being educated off-site to the district of residence. Score reports are sent to the district of residence. The district of residence should ensure that copies of the Teacher Report and Parent/Guardian Report are sent to the alternateeducational site.
  • To ensure accurate attribution of students being educated at off-site locations to the district of residence, IUs, APSs, PRRIs, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Programs must access the Metritech Data Validation website (April 16-21, 2015) to identify any student test booklets that have been incorrectly attributed to the IUs, APSs, PRRIs, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Program. If no student test booklets are listed in the Metritech Data Validation website, then attribution has been successful. If student test booklets are listed, the IUs, APSs, PRRIs, and Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Program must contact PDE and report the PAsecureID, district of residence and school name/number for each student test booklet.
  • MetriTech is unable to process any School Header Sheets that report a school location code of 9999 or 0000. These types of entities do not receive score reports, nor are they held accountable for AMAO determinations. Failure to accurately attribute students using the School Header Sheet negatively impacts receipt of score reports and accountability determinations for LEAs.

Special Instructions and Information for 2015 Administration of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

  • All previous Pennsylvania-specific special instructions and information apply to the administration of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. Additional Pennsylvania-specific special instructions and information related to the administration of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs follow.
  • The Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is an assessment of English language proficiency designed for students in grades 1-12 who are classified as English language learners and who have significant cognitive disabilities that prevent their meaningful participation in the ACCESS for ELLs. Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is not designed or intended for ELLs with disabilities who can meaningfully participate in the standard ACCESS for ELLs with appropriate accommodations.
  • IEP teams determine whether an ELL with significant cognitive disabilities meets the Pennsylvania eligibility criteria for participation in the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. IEP teams must apply the Pennsylvania Criteria to Determine Participation in the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs to determine those ELLs with significant cognitive disabilities who are eligible to be administered the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. For all ELLs with disabilities, participation in ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS with or without accommodations must be documented in the IEP under IV. Participation in State and Local Assessments. If an IEP documents that the student should defer participation from one or more of the domains of the ACCESS or Alternate ACCESS, the appropriate box must be filled in beside SPD in field 22.
  • Test administrators of the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs must meet the Pennsylvania Requirements for Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Test Administrators and must meet certification requirements, including taking the Alternate ACCESSS quiz on the WIDA online training course annually.

PA Specific Guidelines for Bubbling Demographic Information On The Test Booklet:

  • For all students with or without PreID labels – Pennsylvania requires that test administrators bubble the following field, if relevant:

FIELD DESCRIPTION / BOOKLET SAMPLE
Special Accommodations: Bubble in the appropriate accommodations (reference page 25 in the District and School Test Administration Manual) for each student as necessary. /
  • For students without PreCode labels, the following field descriptions provide PA- specific guidelines for filling out student information on test booklets. Test Administrators must follow the instructions clarified below in place of the information provided in the District and School Test Administration Manual.

FIELD DESCRIPTION / BOOKLET SAMPLE
District Name: You may abbreviate your LEA’s name here. /
District Number: LEA/AUN Number. /
Racial/Ethnic Group: Leave Blank. This information must be bubbled in the State Defined Optional Data field. See instructions under State Defined Optional Data. /
State Support Delivery Model:Leave Blank. This field is not collected in PA. /
State Defined Optional Data Field:The first fivecolumns of this field should be used as follows.
Ethnicity: For students without a pre-code label, record a two digit number based on the following selection using the first and second columns only:
BUBBLE THIS COLUMN ONLY FOR STUDENTS WITHOUT A PreID LABEL
01 = American Indian/Alaskan Native (Not Hispanic) /
03 = Black/African American (Not Hispanic)
04 = Hispanic (Any Race)
05 = White (Not Hispanic)
06 = Multi Racial/Two or More Races (Not Hispanic)
09 = Asian (Not Hispanic)
10 = Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic)
Non-PublicSchool Student Receiving Supplemental Services,
Instruction or Educator Professional Development Through Title III: Using the third column only:
0 = Yes, non-public student is receiving Title III supplemental services
Blank = Leave blank if student is not a non-public student. /
Student withdrew from LEA during the assessment window and was not administered all sections of the assessment:Using the fourth column only:
0 = Yes, student withdrew from LEA during the assessment window and was not administered all sections of the assessment
Blank = Leave blank if student was present during testing and completed all sections of the assessment /
Student transferred to or from another Pennsylvania school or district during the assessment window:Using the fifth column only:
0 = Yes, transferred to or from LEA during the assessment window
Blank = Leave blank if student was present during testing and did not transfer to or from LEA during the assessment window /