IDAHO ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

 

To:  District Test Coordinators and LEP Directors

From: Pamela Demarest

Date: January 24, 2008

 

Subject: Spring 2008 IELA Materials Distribution & Training

 

The spring 2008 Idaho English Language Assessment window is quickly approaching. If you have students who have been identified as “limited English proficient” (LEP), please read through the important following information, to ensure that you are properly prepared. 

 

ASSESSMENT WINDOW:

The assessment window is February 21 through April 4, 2008.

 

ASSESSMENT MATERIALS:

The 2008 assessment materials are currently being packaged at Questar Inc., the IELA test vendor, based on the Pre-ID information submitted in the IELA Online System during the window of November 12, 2007 through January 7, 2008. You will receive materials (to include barcode labels) for each of the students pre-identified, materials for examiners and some overage, sometime during the week of February 4^th. Similar to 2007, the materials will be shipped directly to the attention of the District Test Coordinator who will be responsible for distributing the individually packaged cartons to each participating school.

 

The District Test Coordinator should hold on to any applicable overage (detailed on the district packing slip) as well as the contents of the district packet (return UPS labels, Divider Sheet, District Identification Sheet) and return boxes.

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:

To obtain additional materials for new students who were not pre-identified through the IELA Online System or additional examiners, please download and complete a 2008 Additional Materials Request Worksheet from the Idaho State Board of Education website (https://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/IELA/IELAadmin.asp) and fax it to 845-277-8104. This worksheet will be available on February 4^th, but we ask that you please wait to receive your main shipment of materials to first assess if the overage will cover your needs.

 

WHAT’S NEW IN 2008:

The IELA was first administered in the spring of 2006, so you may already be familiar with the assessment. You should be aware, however, of certain changes that have been implemented for 2008.

 

Field Test Forms – There are six different (but equivalent) Level 2 (Intermediate/Advanced) forms this year, for each grade span from B (grade span 1-2) through E (9-12). The core items—which are the only items that will count toward the student’s score—are the same on all the Level 2 forms within a grade span. Only the field test items differ. The field Test forms are numbered 1 through 6. For example, the C2 forms are C2-1, C2-2, C2-3, C2-4, C2-5, and C2-6. There is only one Level 1 (Beginner) form for each grade span and it does not contain field test items.

 

Kindergarten Forms – New items will also be field tested on the Kindergarten test. There are four A forms this year: A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4. Core items are identical on these forms.

 

Form-specific examiner materials and student answer documents – Because of the field testing, this year there will be a separate examiner manual, listening CD, prompt book (applies to B forms only), and answer document for each form. Thus, a group of students taking the E2-5 test must use the E2-5 answer document, and the examiner must use the E2-5 examiner manual and E2-5 listening CD.

 

Different Listening and Speaking Tests – Level 1 (Beginner) and Level 2 (Intermediate/Advanced) students cannot be tested together on the Listening Test this year. These tests are no longer identical. As mentioned previously, there are separate listening CDs for each form.

 

Reading Fluency – Reading Fluency has been added to the IELA. Although reading fluency is part of the Reading Test, it is administered at the end of the Speaking Test, since this part needs to be individually administered. Examiners will need a stopwatch.

 

Test Security Agreement – This year everyone who takes part in the administration of the IELA must read and sign the IELA Test Security Agreement which can be found in the Test Coordinator’s Guide and Examiner Manual(s). You will need to collect the signed Agreements and keep them on file.

 

TRAINING:

To help you prepare for the administration of the spring 2008 IELA, 3 PowerPoint Presentations have been created – What’s New, Test Administration, and Post Test Instruction. They will be posted on February 6^th at the Board of Education website (https://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/IELA/IELAadmin.asp). We STRONGLY encourage each District Test Coordinator to read through these presentations prior to the start of the administration. Please note that there is a full script for each slide.

 

In addition, a series of WebEx seminars based on those presentations will be offered should you prefer to listen along with other districts. The dates are as follows:

 

- Wednesday, February 6^th – 3:00 PM Mountain Time (MT)

- Monday, February 11^th – 10:00 AM Mountain Time (MT)

- Wednesday, February 13^th – 3:00 PM Mountain Time (MT)

- Tuesday, February 19^th – 3:00 PM Mountain Time (MT)

- Tuesday, February 26^th – 10:00 AM Mountain Time (MT)

 

Please contact the IELA Coordinator at iela@QuestarAI.com to register for any of the above session(s).

 

The general instruction section (only) of each (grade span: A, B, C, D, & E) Examiner Manual will also be posted at the Board of Education website for your reference. Please feel free to download it and use it for internal training sessions.

 

If you have questions related to materials distribution or training, please call Questar at 888-854-9596 or send an e-mail message to file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/mmatts.OSBE/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLKCA/iela@QuestarAI.com. We are here to help!

 

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and best of luck to you.

 

Regards,

 

Pamela Demarest

IELA Coordinator

Questar Assessment, Inc.

 

888-854-9596

iela@QuestarAI.com