The English Learner Assessment report shows how students performed on the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs, a large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English learners.
This annual assessment is designed to measure K–12 ELs on their progress in learning the English language, including their development of Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking skills. WIDA ACCESS for ELLs is aligned to the WIDA English Language Development standards that Michigan adopted in 2013.
This assessment can be administered online in grades 1–12. A paper/pencil form of the assessment is available in grades K–12 for schools and some students who may not yet be technology-ready or have an IEP/504 plan with specific needs requiring this form of an assessment.
The report can be viewed by proficiency, proficiency level and scaled scores. Each report view provides a current year snapshot view as well as a trend view over time. The proficiency level and scaled score views feature a breakdown by Composite Scores for Overall, Oral Language, Literacy, and Comprehension as well as a breakdown by Language Domain Scores of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
- Proficiency: The number and percent of ELs who tested as proficient.
- Proficiency Level: Student proficiency in various areas is rated from 1.0 to 6.0. See the Interpretive Guide for Score Reports to understand how this is calculated.
- Scaled Scores: Average test scores for groups of students, from 100 to 600.
For additional information about the assessment, please see the Michigan Department of Education’s WIDA web page.
The report is updated in mid-summer. See the Recently Posted Reports page for when the report was last updated.
The majority of Michigan’s English Learners (ELs) were able to finish the Spring 2020 WIDA ACCESS for ELLs test prior to the closure of schools due to COVID-19. However, this assessment data will not be publicly reported because it does not represent a complete picture of ELs performance on the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessment. Despite this, educators do have access to their district reports and student level data through WIDA AMS and the OEAA Secure Site.
Historical Changes
- A standard setting in 2016 impacted both the Spring 2017 performance levels and Michigan’s policy on the scores required to show proficiency (laid out in the Entrance & Exit Protocol). The trend view includes a line break between 2015-16 and 2016-17. Standard setting determines the student performance required for each proficiency level through a series of decisions made by expert panels of Michigan educators. When standards and accountability systems change, it is good practice to conduct standard setting studies to ensure that results of an assessment reflect up-to-date achievement goals. For more information about these assessment changes, please contact the Office of Educational Assessment & Accountability.
Use the Location and Report Settings to select a location, school year, grade and report category. Data can also be filtered by categories such as race/ethnicity, gender, economically disadvantaged, migrant, and students with disabilities.
Data view options include:
- Snapshot (a graph and table of the selected data)
- Trend (a graph and table showing changes over time)
See the MI School Data Quick Start Guide for the basics of navigating the site and customizing a report.
Location Options
Locations Setting options: Statewide, ISD, District and School
Use the Add Comparison Location option to compare your selected location with data for the State of Michigan or a specific location within Michigan.
Logged-in Users
Users with secure access who are logged in can see unsuppressed numbers for the entities for which they have been specifically authorized.
The WIDA ACCESS Performance report includes only Michigan public school students.
This assessment can be administered online in grades 1–12. A paper/pencil form of the assessment is available in grades K–12 for schools and s
The Center for Educational Performance and Information collects student location and demographics data from public schools and intermediate school districts via the Michigan Student Data System. For more information on the MSDS application and reporting rules, please see the MSDS Collection Details Manual on the CEPI website.
The Michigan Department of Education Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability, which sets policies for WIDA ACCESS for ELLs administration, provided the test data.
The report includes only Michigan public school students.
If you have questions not addressed here or in the linked resources, please contact CEPI customer support at cepi@michigan.gov.
Disclosure Avoidance
To protect the privacy of individual students, CEPI applies data suppression rules to sensitive data when report settings would yield fewer than 10 students in a given group. Complementary groups may also be suppressed. In some cases, values less than 10 may be shown when there is no risk of identifying individual students. Secure users can log in to view unsuppressed data for their authorized location. Please see How CEPI Protects Education Data for more information.
Report Labels
See the glossary for additional terms and acronyms used on MI School Data.
Composite Score: Scale scores and proficiency levels reported for different combinations of language domains.
- Comprehension:A weighted composite score combining Listening (30%) and Reading (70%).
- Literacy:A weighted composite score combining Reading (50%) and Writing (50%).
- Oral Language:A weighted composite score combining Listening (50%) and Speaking (50%).
Language Domain Scores: Proficiency levels and scale scores for Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, as defined by the WIDA English language Development Standards.
- Listening:Scores pertaining to students’ ability to understand oral English language.
- Reading:Scores pertaining to students’ ability to understand the written English language.
- Speaking:Scores pertaining to students’ ability to communicate orally in English.
- Writing:Scores pertaining to students’ ability to communicate in writing in English.
Overall: A combination of all four language domains (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing).
ome students who may not yet be technology-ready or have an IEP/504 plan with specific needs requiring this form of an assessment.
Whenever report settings provide data with fewer than 10 students, less than 5 percent, or over 95 percent in any grouping, the data are suppressed to protect the privacy of individual students. More detailed information is available only to authorized users.
Within reports that show students’ performance over time a trend line break now exists. This trend line break is used to indicate that a significant change in the assessment occurred. A standard setting that took place during 2016 impacted the Spring 2017 WIDA ACCESS for ELLs performance levels. For more information about these assessment changes, please contact the Office of Educational Assessment & Accountability (OEAA) at 1-877-560-8378 or send an e-mail to baa@michigan.gov.
Report Labels
Location/Entity: You can select and compare data at different entity levels: statewide, by intermediate school district (ISD), by school district, and by individual schools that include all local education agency (LEA) and public school academy (PSA) schools. Public school academies, also known as charter schools, are considered their own school district.
LEA: Local educational agency such as a school district or charter school/public school academy (PSA).
Composite Score: Scale scores and proficiency levels reported for four different combinations of language domains.
Language Domain Scores: Proficiency levels and scale scores for Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
Overall: A combination of all four language domains (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing).
Oral Language: A weighted composite score combining Listening (50%) and Speaking (50%)
Literacy: A weighted composite score combining Reading (50%) and Writing (50%).
Comprehension: A weighted composite score combining Listening (30%) and Reading (70%).
Listening: Scores pertaining to students’ ability to understand oral English language as defined by the WIDA English language Development (ELD) Standards.
Speaking: Scores pertaining to students’ ability to communicate orally in English as defined by the WIDA English language Development (ELD) Standards.
Reading: Scores pertaining to a student’s ability to understand the written English language as defined by theWIDA English language Development (ELD) Standards.
Writing: Scores pertaining to a student’s ability to communicate in Writing in English as defined by theWIDA English language Development (ELD) Standards.
Mean scaled Score: The average scaled score for students who took the test.
Median Scaled Score: The midpoint of scaled scores for students who took the test.
Low Scaled Score: The lowest scaled score
High Scaled Score: The highest possible scaled score
Economically Disadvantaged: Economically Disadvantaged (ED) Students are those who have been determined to be eligible for free or reduced-price meals via locally gathered and approved family applications under the National School Lunch program, are in households receiving food (SNAP) or cash (TANF) assistance, are homeless, are migrant, or are in foster care. When any of these conditions are present, a student is considered ED.
Race/Ethnicity: Information about race and ethnicity categories can be found on the CEPI website.
Gender: The sex of the student, male or female.
English Learners: English Learners (ELs) are also historically known as English Language Learners (ELL) or Limited English Proficient (LEP) students. ELs are students who speak a language other than English as their primary language or whose home environment may include primary use of a language other than English and have difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding spoken English.
Students With Disabilities: Students with a qualifying disabling condition who requires specialized programming or services in order to progress and participate in the general curriculum. Such programs and services are outlined in an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
<10, <5%, >95%: These labels are used in place of the actual data when there is a risk of identifying an individual student (unless you have logged in as a secure user).
Data Collection
The Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) collected the data used to compile this report. The databases used include:
- CEPI's Michigan Student Data System (MSDS), to locate the student's high school building, district, and intermediate school district as well as demographics. Specific rules about the collection can be found in the MSDS Collection Details Manual.
- The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Bureau of Assessment and Accountability, which sets policies for WIDA ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 administration, provided the test data.
Find and select locations to view reports:
