Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education
Assessment Guidance for MLL's
The Colorado Department of Education and Aurora Public Schools has adopted the WIDA ELD Standards as a part of the Colorado Academic Standards. These standards, specifically related to developing English language proficiency, are called the Colorado English Language Proficiency Standards or CELP Standards.
You can view in-depth information regarding the WIDA ELD Standards here. Below are the five CELP Standards per CDE's website.
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English Learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting.
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English Learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content are of Language Arts.
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English Learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content are of Mathematics.
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English Learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content are of Science.
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English Learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content are of Social Studies.
WIDA ACCESS
Every year, all students identified as Multilingual Learners in Colorado take a standardized test to measure proficiency towards the CELP standards. This test is called WIDA ACCESS and is administered in January.
After the test, individual student results are provided to the school and the student's family. School educators use ACCESS results to make decisions to facilitate students' English language development. WIDA's website provides information in 47 different languages to help families understand the meaning of their child's scores. Below is a sample of the student reports provided to families.
WIDA Screener
Every student who enters Aurora Public Schools is given the WIDA Screener. Test scores from the screener can support decisions about whether a student is a Multilingual Learner and would benefit from English Language Development (ELD) classes, and decisions about placing students into appropriate leveled classes for instruction.