EL & Title III Monthly News & Updates

February 2022

Assessment Updates

WIDA ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS Test

2022 ACCESS Testing Window Now Open

2/1/22 - 3/25/22

Beginning with the 2022 ACCESS administration, all NH schools are required to administer the computer-based version of the ACCESS test.

WIDA and DRC ask districts to return completed grades 1-3 Writing booklets before the end of your testing window. Returning Writing test booklets to DRC early helps support the quality of scoring and ensures score reports are not delayed.
When adding a new student to WIDA AMS, please include the following student information: first and last name; assessment ID (not SASID), grade and birthday. If you need help finding a student's state assessment ID, please review this Technical Assistance Guidance: Locating Student State Assessment IDs.
Test Security Incidents:
If any incidents occur during testing, individuals may report the incident:
By phone: 603-271-3582
By submitting the online Test Security Incident Form; or
By emailing, Wendy Perron @ Wendy.Perron@doe.nh.gov
School District/building test coordinators should submit incident reports within 24 hours when possible. A breach must be reported immediately. Individuals may remain anonymous.

Title III Updates

Title III program monitoring for the 2020-21 grant year has been postponed. Monitoring notices are now scheduled to go out in early March 2022. Program monitoring will be scheduled between April-June 2022.
Reallocation distributions for the 2021-22 grant cycle are underway. Reallocation notices will be distributed by the end of the month.

NHDOE ESEA Programs Website

Resource Share

Education & Afghan Newcomers

The recording for OELA's recent webinar with the US Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement is now available. The webinar provided information about the placement process for Afghan newcomers in the context of the US educational system; how to coordinate resources to provide wraparound services, and information about federal support.

Webinar Recording

Classroom Spotlight: Updates from the Field

Fostering Literacy Through Art

At the January Statewide EL Community of Practice meeting, Liz Kirwan, EL Teacher in Nashua and Beth Olshansky, Director of the Institute for Art-Based Literacy shared an overview of the innovative Picturing Writing method, a multimodal, evidence-based approach that uses simple crayon resist art techniques and the study of quality picture books to teach the art of writing. Liz also shared stories her high school newcomers wrote using this technique. A recording of the meeting can be found through the link on the right, along with more of the amazing work of Ms. Kirwan's students. Thanks to Liz & Beth!

Click here to explore the resources and to learn more about this art-based literacy practice!

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

Please Note: There has been a slight change in this schedule to offer more dates during the testing window and to avoid a conflict with the Low-Incidence CoP group.

EL & Title III Open Office Hours

3:00-4:00 PM

*Change in schedule

Tuesday, February 22nd
Tuesday, March 8th
Monday, March 14th
Monday, March 21st
Monday, March 28th
Tuesday, April 5th

Meeting ID: 865 9422 2696

Passcode: 968392

Zoom Link to Join

Statewide EL Educators

Community of Practice (CoP)

Thursday, February 17, 2022

3:30-4:45 PM

Link to Agenda & Meeting Code

Statewide Low-Incidence Community of Practice (LICoP)

In March LICoP will host guest speaker from Discovery Education

Monday, March 7, 2022

3:30-4:30 PM

Zoom Meeting Link (pre-registration not required)

Upcoming WIDA Webinars

Post-Testing: Data Validation

March 8, 2022 from 2:00-3:00 PM

Post-Testing: Interpreting Score Reports

March 15, 2022 from 2:00-3:00 PM

All webinars can be accessed through the WIDA Secure Portal.

New WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshop Now Available!

Engaging Multilingual Learners in Science: Making Sense of Phenomena is a free, interactive eWorkshop designed specifically for science educators and language educators who support multilingual learners in science classrooms. Learn more by logging into the Secure Portal.

WIDA Secure Portal

A few more spots open for the Spring WIDA Workshop

Teacher Leaders: Planning with the WIDA ELD Standards Framework

A Hybrid Workshop:

Webinar: 4/8/22 from 8:30-9:30 AM
In-Person Workshop: 4/14/22 from 8:30-3:00 in Concord

This hybrid workshop is designed to support teacher leaders, coaches, and those that provide local professional development and support for using the WIDA ELD Standards Framework (2020 ed.) to plan instruction at the unit level. More information available here.

Limited space available: Please complete this simple application, if you are interested in participating. Applications are being collected now through March 15, 2022. If interest is high, participants will be selected based on their roles, willingness to train others and regional location. All applicants will be notified by March 18th.

Thanks for all you do!

NHDOE EL & Title III Contact: