Missouri is the latest state to adopt the ACCESS for ELLs test, which is the nation’s most popular English-language-proficiency test for K-12 students. Jim Morris, a spokesman for the Missouri education department, told me that the state is notifying its school districts today that it has joined the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment, or WIDA, consortium, which developed the English-language-proficiency test and standards that go with it.
Missouri has joined 21 other states and the District of Columbia to be a part of WIDA because “we think it provides educators in Missouri with the best support and resources for serving ELLs,” Morris said.
Next school year, ACCESS for ELLs will replace the LAS Links test that Missouri school districts have been using to assess the English progress of English-learners. Maryland is another state that uses LAS Links.