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Missouri's State Education Agency (SEA) Policies on Accessibility and Accommodation for Large Scale Testing of ELLs 

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Missouri's State Education Agency (SEA) Policies on Accessibility and Accommodation for Large Scale Testing of ELLs 

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WIDA ACCESS - State Accessibility And Accommodations Policies

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Welcome to dese.mo.gov. We hope you enjoy the site, and we welcome your feedback.

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Student Superpowers: Using ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports

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Student Superpowers: Using ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports

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Now that you have your ELLs ACCESS scores, what can you do with them? Here are some suggestions and resources to help you meet the needs of your students.

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Colorin Colorado Explains Collaboration and Advocacy

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Colorin Colorado Explains Collaboration and Advocacy

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One of the most important steps that ELL specialists can take to improve collaboration is to help colleagues and administrators better understand their expertise. These resources share a number of examples from educators on how to start that conversation.

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Helping Colleagues Understand the ELL Educator's Role

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One of the most important steps that ELL specialists can take to improve collaboration is to help colleagues and administrators better understand their expertise. These resources share a number of examples from educators on how to start that conversation.

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Using Formative Assessments to Focus on Needs of ELLs

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Using Formative Assessments to Focus on Needs of ELLs

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For those rare instances when a child grades 1 (second semester) thru 12 have been in the country less than 4 months and would not be able to meaningfully participate in the WIDA online screener.

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Mandatory Language Use Survey for all parents of children enrolling in a Missouri school.

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English Learners (EL) Language Use Survey (LUS)

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Welcome to dese.mo.gov. We hope you enjoy the site, and we welcome your feedback.

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Instructions and resources for evaluating international high school transcripts.

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English Learners (EL) Transcript Evaluation

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Welcome to dese.mo.gov. We hope you enjoy the site, and we welcome your feedback.

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Guide for Personnel Involved in Administration of ACCESS

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Guide for Personnel Involved in Administration of ACCESS

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Checklist for the person responsible for giving the access test to all potential and current ELLs. Contains links to online resources and instructions for before, during, and after testing.

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Monitoring form for those students deemed MY1 or MY2

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English Learners (EL) Sample Monitoring Form | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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A tool to help you meet students where they are in their language development

The Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development as they engage in the following contexts:

Bilingual and English-immersion early care and education programs

Bilingual, Spanish-immersion and English-immersion K-12 language programs

Bilingual, Spanish-immersion and English-immersion K-12 content-area classrooms

Similar to the WIDA English Language Development Standards Statements, the Can Do Descriptors describe what learners can do with language across different content areas. Although the Can Do Descriptors relate to the ELD Standards Statements, they don't replace them but are used to supplement the standards statements during instruction.

Educators and early childhood practitioners can use the Can Do Descriptors to

Better understand what students at different levels of language proficiency can do with language

Expand their understanding of what the process of language development can look like

Collaborate around scaffolding that students need to engage in content-area learning and develop language at the same time

Differentiate instruction and classroom assessment for language

Interpret ACCESS for ELLs test scores

The Can Do Descriptors have not yet been updated to reflect the 2020 Edition; however, they remain available as a valuable tool for communicating with stakeholders about what students can do at each language proficiency level. WIDA is monitoring educator use to help inform the timing for updating the materials.

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A tool to help you meet students where they are in their language developmentThe Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development as they engage in the following contexts:

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WIDA English Language Development Standards

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WIDA English Language Development Standards

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Resource links for you to use to help your ELL families to understand ACCESS scores and family engagement.

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Resources to strengthen connections with families

Families play a key role in their children's language development and possess a wealth of knowledge about their children's language use in home and community environments. At WIDA, we recognize families as experts in their children's language learning and development. Engaging with families to learn from them about their children's language use and development is at the core of language-focused family engagement.

The resources listed below provide professional learning for early care and education professionals, and K-12 educators, as well as resources and ACCESS assessment materials that educators can share with families.

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Resources to strengthen connections with families Families play a key role in their children's language development and possess a wealth of knowledge about their children's language use in home and community environments. At WIDA, we recognize families as experts in their children's language learning and development.

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Colorin Colorado Explains the Development of Important Laws Governing ELL Education

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Colorin Colorado Explains the Development of Important Laws Governing ELL Education

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Colorin Colorado

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WIDA Online Access Accommodations Resources

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WIDA Online Access Accommodations Resources

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WIDA intends to fully retire the 2012 Amplification of the WIDA English Language Development Standards, Kindergarten-Grade 12. However, we recognize that all member SEAs have different timelines for implementation of the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.

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For use with ELLs to gather more authentic assessment information and help all stakeholders decide if reclassification of an ELL is required.

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English Learners (EL) Portfolio Summary Form | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Strategies for Collaboration to Meet Needs of ELLs

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Strategies for Collaboration to Meet Needs of ELLs

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework developed by CAST, an Understood founding partner. UDL guides the design of learning experiences to proactively meet the needs of all learners. When you use UDL, you assume that barriers to learning are in the design of the environment, not in the student. UDL is based on brain science and evidence-based educational practices. It also leverages the power of digital technology.

Imagine this: Your students are going to write an essay on the stages of butterfly metamorphosis.

Some students have seen butterflies grow through the different stages at a local science museum. These students are excited to share what they know. Other students don't know anything about butterflies and are nervous about writing on this topic. And some students don't like to write - they dread this activity from the moment you say "essay."

In any class, you know there's a wide range of enthusiasm, background, and skills among your students. When you plan with this range in mind, you can approach the lesson in several ways.

You could share a mini-lesson on butterfly metamorphosis and have students use a guided worksheet as they write. Or you could set up stations where students are grouped using flexible grouping around understanding of the topic, language ability, or reading level.

But take a step back. In any lesson or task, you can anticipate this range of variability among your students. There's another approach you can take to plan for this variability in all your lessons : Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

The ultimate goal of UDL is for all learners to become "expert learners." Expert learners are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed about learning.

UDL is a powerful approach because from the very start of your lesson, it helps you anticipate and plan for all your learners. It can help you make sure that the greatest range of students can access and engage in learning - not just certain students.

From the series: Reaching and teaching all students with UDL

Discover how to use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to plan lessons, reduce barriers to learning, and engage all students.

Show articles Hide articles

Articles in this series: Reaching and teaching all students with UDL

You don't need specific tools or technologies to follow UDL's principles either. Instead, your students choose from the tools and resources you already have. They might use them in different ways.

Also, UDL may change how you think about what prevents students from learning. Instead of thinking that something needs to change about the students, UDL looks at the learning environment. The learning environment can include barriers to learning, like the design of the curricular goals, assessments, methods, and materials. In this way, the learning environment itself can be "abled" or "dis-abled."

UDL gives you a framework to follow so you can reduce the barriers to learning. The main way to do this is to prepare a learning environment where students have what they need to flexibly meet learning goals.

Universal design can be found just about anywhere you look - both inside and outside your school. Curb cuts change sidewalks so that they're accessible to the greatest range of users, including people who use wheelchairs and those pushing strollers. Closed captions make television accessible to people who are deaf or who have hearing loss, as well as people at the gym or spouses who can't agree whether or not to keep the TV on at night. No two forms of universal design are the same.

Universal Design for Learning looks different in every classroom. But there are commonalities. To start with, there's always a focus on building expert learning for all. Other common elements of a UDL experience include:

All learners knowing the goal

Intentional, flexible options for all students to use

Student access to resources from the start of a lesson

Students building and internalizing their own learning

In a UDL environment, students rarely do the same task in the same way at the same time. The flexible options will differ across developmental ages. But the framework for having clear goals and flexible options is consistent no matter the grade level or content areas.

UDL describes human variability based on parts of the brain that manage the "why" (affective network), the "what" (recognition network), and the "how" (strategic network) of learning. Watch as CAST co-founder David Rose explains why UDL emphasizes variability instead of disability.

CAST developed UDL guidelines that are based on three main principles that align with these learning networks. The three UDL principles are engagement, representation, and action and expression.

The chart below includes the three UDL principles adapted from CAST. It also gives you some questions to consider and lists some examples of the principles in action. You can print a one-page version of this chart to have on hand while planning a lesson, activity, or routine for your students.

Families may not be familiar with the concept of students being active participants in setting their learning goals. They may have questions about letting students make their own learning choices.

Explain at back-to-school night or in a class that you'll be using Universal Design for Learning. You can even share a family-friendly article about the UDL approach to teaching .

Assure families that you have high expectations for all students to become expert learners in your classroom. And explain that you'll keep working with the students and their families to build the skills and interest to make that happen.

Read these articles to learn how to use UDL with distance learning.

From the series: Reaching and teaching all students with UDL

Discover how to use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to plan lessons, reduce barriers to learning, and engage all students.

Show articles Hide articles

Articles in this series: Reaching and teaching all students with UDL

What it's like

"Elijah came with me to his IEP meetings. At first, he would just sit there quietly, taking things in. But by middle school, he began to be more vocal about his needs."

About the Author

About the Author

Allison Posey, MEd, CAST, Inc. is a curriculum and design specialist at CAST.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Brittney Newcomer, MS, LSSP is the director of instructional design at Understood for Educators, which she joined after serving in public schools for more than a decade as a teacher, evaluator, and curriculum manager.

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A teacher's guide

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework developed by CAST, an Understood founding partner. UDL guides the design of learning experiences to proactively meet the needs of all learners. When you use UDL, you assume that barriers to learning are in the design of the environment, not in the student.

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English Language Learners (ELL) / English Language Development

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English Language Development (ELD) instruction is designed specifically to advance English learners' (ELs) knowledge and use of English in the academic setting. ELD instruction is designed to help our students who are culturally and linguistically diverse learn and acquire English to a level of proficiency that maximizes their capacity to engage successfully in academic studies taught in English.