W-APT™
W-APT stands for the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test™. This assessment tool, known as the "screener", is used by educators to measure the English language proficiency of students who have recently arrived in the U.S. or in a particular district. It can help to determine whether or not a child is in need of English language instructional services, and if so, at what level.
The W-APT™ test forms and administration manual (PDF files) are available to all authorized users from WIDA Consortium member states. You must enter your district's W-APT username and password in order to view or print these files. Please contact your district or state ESL or testing coordinator if you have not received your login information.
About the W-APT™
The purpose, history, and components of the W-APT™ are outlined in this brochure
.
The WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT)™ is modeled after the ACCESS for ELLs® secure assessment, but they differ in several important ways. Comparing W-APT and ACCESS will help you understand the structure and purpose of each test.
Training for W-APT™ Administration
Test administrators who have participated in test administration training for the ACCESS for ELLs® secure assessment will be well qualified to administer the W-APT™. They will merely need to review sound files and train on the writing rubric by examining the scored writing samples in the training package. It is recommended, but not required, that W-APT™ administrators be trained for the full ACCESS for ELLs®, which is a complete and detailed training program. However, the W-APT™ Test Administration Manual, rubrics and Scored Writing Samples should be sufficient for reliably administering and scoring the W-APT™.
Please log in to view and download other materials related to the W-APT™ which are useful in preparing to administer the screener test, such as:
(You must enter your district's W-APT username and password in order to view or print these files. Please contact your district or state ESL or testing coordinator if you have not received your login information.)
Administering the W-APT™
The W-APT™ for a particular grade level cluster is administered to children one semester beyond the beginning of the grade level cluster and one semester beyond the end of the grade level cluster. For example, the grade 3-5 W-APT™ is administered to children from 2nd semester grade 3 through lst semester grade 6.
The W-APT™ for all grade levels except kindergarten is administered as follows:
- The Speaking test is administered first, followed by the Listening, Reading, and Writing tests.
- All components are adaptive, meaning the component in process is stopped when the test administrator reaches items with more complex material than the student is likely to successfully handle. Instructions for stopping a component are included in the test script.
The Kindergarten W-APT™
The Kindergarten placement test is meant
to
be administered to pre-K, K, and first
semester 1st grade students. It is organized
as a single, individually-administered test with
a combined Speaking/Listening component.
The Reading
and Writing tests make up a
separate test
which is optional, and only for
students with
some literacy skills.
Presumably these would
be children very
close to finishing Kindergarten
or in
the first
semester of grade 1. The K W-APT™ is not
based
on the WIDA standards at this time,
so matching
scores to the WIDA proficiency
levels is not possible. Instead, scores for
Speaking and Listening are
marked as showing
low, mid, or high proficiency. Scoring details can
be found in the W-APT™ Test Administration Manual and on the scoring sheets.
W-APT™ Scoring for Grades 1-12
- Scoring for the speaking section of the W-APT™ is identical to the ACCESS for ELLs®. Trained test administrators determine whether a student's response approaches, meets, or exceeds expectations based on a given rubric.
- Scoring for the writing is also based on a rubric. Scored writing samples are available to help raters get accustomed to using the rubric. Note that test administrators do not score the ACCESS for ELLs® Writing test, so W-APT™ test administrators must take on additional training to reliably score students' Writing tests.
- An answer key on the scoring sheet is provided for the multiple choice listening and reading items.
- The W-APT™ scoring sheet guides test administrators in assigning an overall or composite English language proficiency level for achievement on all four components of the test
Background