EL Assessment

Missouri joined the WIDA (pronounced Wee-Duh) consortium in 2010 in response to both wanting to improve the EL standards within the state and to help provide better service and assessment to a growing EL population. The WIDA Consortium is a non-profit group whose purpose is to promote educational success for ELs. Through the development and delivery of standards, assessments, research and professional development, WIDA provides meaningful tools, training and information to educators working with ELs, which are anchored in research-based practices for serving these diverse learners.

Aside from professional development and English Language Development resources, WIDA provides the state with screener and summative English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments.​

Manuals And Resources

Manuals

Some links may require a login to the WIDA Secure Portal.

Resources

Some links may require a login to the WIDA Secure Portal.

Score Interpretation

Identification

Identification

Upon enrollment, Missouri districts are required to give a language use survey (LUS). The questions are:

  • What was the student’s first language?
  • Which language(s) does the student use (speak) at home and with others?
  • Which language(s) does the student hear at home and understand?

If the answer to any of these questions notes a primary language other than English is either spoken or understood, or if a Local Education Agency (LEA) feels the student might have an English learning need due to unreported exposure to another language, the student is potentially an EL. The district must take active steps to determine if the student qualifies for language instruction educational program (LIEP).

LEA's are required to use the WIDA Screener as the screening assessment to determine if a student qualifies for the district LIEP. More information about the WIDA Screener can be found in the EL Screening Guide.

Additional information and resources about identification can be found on the Identification tab on the DESE English Language Development page.

Screener Resources

Test Administrator Requirements And Training

Test Administrator Requirements

Training

Individual test administrators must be trained prior to administration of the assessment, and agree to maintain the security of test questions.

For the WIDA Screener, a test examiner must complete the required training prior to giving the assessment the first time. Afterwards, the district determines how often the examiner must retake the training. If an examiner has not taken the training in the last three years, they must complete it prior to screening any students.

WIDA Screener for Kindergarten has two certification quizzes, both of which must be passed for the user to be considered certified.

For WIDA ACCESS, a test examiner must complete the required training prior to giving the assessment each year. Your district testing coordinator or EL coordinator will be tracking electronically who has completed the training.

In order to be marked as certified in an assessment training course, a user must pass a certification quiz and download a certificate of completion. These steps are outlined on each training course’s homepage and must be completed in the order indicated in the course.

A passing score for all WIDA certification quizzes is 80% but users will only see their results in terms of the number of correct responses they submit. The minimum passing score is communicated to users on the training course homepage and just before the user attempts the quiz. All certification quizzes are located at the end of their respective courses.

All training for the WIDA Screener and WIDA ACCESS is located on the WIDA Secure Portal. 

Test Preparation

Test Preparation

WIDA ACCESS is not a content that test students study to do well. Instead, students should focus on doing their best to demonstrate their language abilities. Prior to the assessment, you can help familiarize students with the kind of content they will encounter on the test, become familiar with the INSIGHT platform and give them a chance to practice the different question types.

Technology Resources

Technology Resources

Some links may require a login to the WIDA Secure Portal.

Contact Information

Contact Information

CONTACT

Vacant - Assistant Director of Assessment
EL Screening and EL Summative Assessment

Cammy Goucher - ELD Curriculum Director
EL Instruction, Building capacity in educational programs and strategies, Assistance in enhancing English language proficiency and academic achievement of ELs

WIDA Client Services Center
Administration Questions, Screener, Standards, WIDA Secure Portal

Data Recognition Corp. (DRC)
WIDA AMS, INSIGHT Testing Platform, COS, Technical Support

Important Dates

DatesEvent
September 23, 2026, to October 22, 2026Precode Window
January 04, 2027 to February 26, 2027Testing Window