WESTOVER, MD, May 31, 2023 – Somerset County Public Schools (SCPS) recently celebrated the system’s multilingual learners and their families at the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Information & Celebration Night hosted at the Somerset County Technical High School (SCTHS). The WIDA ACCESS for ELLs is the English language proficiency assessment taken annually by SCPS’ English Language Learners (ELLs) receiving English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services to monitor a student’s progress in acquiring academic English. Students scoring a 4.5 or above qualify to exit ESOL services where they are then monitored for the next two years for continuity and support. Of SCPS’ 127 ESOL students tested earlier in 2023, 17 scored a 4.5 or above, with another 11 students achieving scores within ½ point of the 4.5 goal.
Of the 17 students testing out of ESOL services, 15 were elementary students with seven from Greenwood Elementary School; a 2020 recipient of the National ESEA Distinguished School award for excellence and academic growth among the school’s ELL population. Six elementary students scoring 4.5 and above were from Carter G. Woodson Elementary, another ELL student population demonstrating significant growth in ‘22-23. Most recently, SCPS’ elementary ELL population tops the State of Maryland for progress in achieving English language proficiency per the 2021-2022 Maryland Report Card.
All multilingual learners and their families were invited to this event to celebrate students exiting services as well as those that showed growth on the assessment. In total, 48 families attended to support their students, share a meal and receive information about the assessment’s four domains; Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. WIDA ACCESS scores are used to provide teachers with information to enhance instruction and learning, and provide school systems with information to assess the effectiveness of programs.
Lilly Welch, SCPS’ Supervisor of English, ELL and World Languages shared, “The families of our Multilingual Learners are always so supportive of their children and our school system. We had a room packed full of students, their families and teachers to celebrate the growth made on the ACCESS for ELLs assessment. SCPS has an excellent ESOL Department that is comprised of ESOL teachers, Parent Liaisons, tutors, interpreters and translators.”
A teacher explains a student’s WIDA ACCESS score, an assessment of English proficiency, to a parent at the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Information and Celebration Night.
SCPS’ Supervisor of English, ELL and World Languages, Lilly Welch (center), shares information about the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs, an annual assessment of English proficiency for English Language Learners (ELLs) at the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Information and Celebration Night.
A father and his sons joined the many families in attendance at the recent WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Information and Celebration Night.