2. This presentation is designed to help you to
successfully complete the ELDA (English Language
Development Assessment) testing that must be
done annually to assess the language proficiency of
all EL students. The state has not yet released
instructions for the 2012-2013 ELDA test;
therefore, it is possible that some information in
this presentation will change. Please carefully read
all information from group testing and the EL
Office regarding the ELDA assessment to make sure
you have the most up-to-date information.

4.  Monday, February 11th – ELDA testing
window opens (Grades K-12)
 Friday, March 8th – ELDA testing window
closes (Grades K-12)
 All testing materials will be distributed by
Group Testing. Please refer to information
from Group Testing regarding the exact dates
for pick-up and return of testing materials.

5.  There are four separate parts of the ELDA.
The test includes listening, speaking, reading
and writing assessments.
 The test is also divided into 4 grade clusters
 K-2
 3-5
 6-8
 9-12

6. Each language domain (listening, speaking, reading and
writing) has 5 English language proficiency levels:
 Level 1: Beginning
 Level 2: Lower Intermediate
 Level 3: Upper Intermediate
 Level 4: Advanced
 Level 5: Full English Proficiency
Students will receive a proficiency score for each language
domain and a composite score that is used to determine
whether students achieve English proficiency. Any student
who receives a COMPOSITE score of 4 or 5 will exit EL services.

8. Test Coordinators:
 Return all materials to the district in the
same box in which they were delivered.
 Review all answer documents for accurate
completion of demographic information.
 Information regarding the repacking and
return of testing materials will be provided
by Group Testing.

9.  After testing is completed, gather all the
answer folders for students that you have
tested into a stack. Place a test header
sheet on top of this stack of student answer
sheets.
 All materials (used and unused) should be
returned to your School Test Coordinator
directly after the assessment is completed.

10. Because ELDA is a secured test, it is
important that you account for all
test materials issued to your school.
Check out the following information
concerning test materials.

11. If a student receives an incomplete or defective answer folder, instruct the
student to raise his or her hand, and follow the steps below:
1. Take a replacement answer folder from the overage supply.
2. Write and bubble in the student’s name on the replacement answer
folder in case it becomes separated from the original.
3. Have the student complete the remainder of the ELDA on the
replacement answer folder.
4. Staple the defective answer folder to the replacement answer folder.
5. Place all materials, defective AND replacement, with the other ELDA
materials in the designated secure location.
Do Not Throw Defective Materials Away!

12. If a student is sick and a test booklet or answer folder becomes soiled, please
follow the steps below:
1. Write down the barcode of the affected booklet and transfer the student
responses to a new answer folder
2. Dispose of the booklet/answer folder according to TN DOE Procedure:
Shred the affected materials
3. Contact TN DOE and Measurement Incorporated with the bar code
number of the affected materials and an explanation of the situation.
Measurement Incorporated: elda@measinc.com 888-612-0180
4. When the materials are being packed for return, enclose a copy of the
emails with the materials.

13.  There are few occasions when you might need to invalidate
a test that a student has completed. Invalidating a test
means that the student will be recorded as NOT tested. The
situations on the following screen indicate the instances
when a test should be invalidated.
 You will receive information from Group Testing regarding
the process for invalidating test scores.
 Do NOT invalidate a test for a student who moves to another
school in our district. The testing for these students will be
completed at the new school. Group testing will also
provide information for completing the testing at the new
school.

14. These are the reasons that a student’s test score
should be invalidated:
 Moved out of the district during testing
 Completed or used more than one answer folder.
One of the answer folders should be invalidated
 Misclassified as EL/LEP and should not have been
tested
 Failure to provide IEP or 504 accommodation(s)

16. Most students will have a pre-printed bar code label. The
pre-printed barcode label should be affixed to each
student’s answer folder. You will not need to bubble-in
demographic information by hand for those students
who have a pre-printed bar code label. Group Testing
will send directions regarding any information that must
be completed by hand.

17. Students who entered our district late in the
school year or who moved to your school
later in the year may not have a pre-printed
barcode label. You will need to complete ALL
the demographic information by hand using a
#2 pencil for any student that does NOT have
a pre-printed barcode label.

18.  Schools will also receive “generic” answer document
labels. One of these generic labels should be applied to
every student answer sheet WITHOUT a pre-printed bar
code label. Schools will have to complete the
demographic information for these students by hand.
 Every area of the demographic information should be
filled in.
 You must use a number 2 pencil to fill in each bubble
completely.
 If you fill in the wrong bubble, you must completely erase
the mark. Do not cross it out.

19. FIRST and LAST NAMES
When filling in the ovals, do not use the blank ovals for
anything except a blank space between two parts of a name.

20. BIRTHDATE
When filling in the Birth Date, the date
must be entered in the two-digit day,
four-digit year format.

21.  Schools must enter the “Unique Student ID #”
for any student WITHOUT a pre-printed
barcode label.
 This Unique Student ID number is the STATE ID
number for the student.
 You may find this number on the student’s
Chancery page (called “State Number”). This
number is also listed on the “ELDA Eligible for
Testing MNPS” report in Chancery.

22. The unique student ID # is only
7 numbers long. You will need
to add two leading zeros
BEFORE the student id # in
order to fill all 9 number
spaces in the box.

23. There are several things you have to
do to determine “How long a student
has been instructed in ESL” and the
“Length of Enrollment in a US School”.
See the following slides for
instructions on how to complete these
sections of the demographics sheet.

24. There are different places you must look to find this
information for different students.

25. Schools can get
information about “Length
of Enrollment in a US
school” and “How Long
instructed in ESL” from the
report in Chancery called
“Eligible for ELDA Testing.”

26. This report can be run by a school
counselor or a school
administrator. Teachers and test
administrators should look at the
date that students entered a U.S.
school to help you complete both
these sections of the
demographic information. If you
have trouble accessing this report,
please contact Deana Conn in the
EL office.

27. If a students is classified as
ACTIVE this means that the
student is currently
receiving EL services. You
will use the same number
of years for both these
sections of the
demographic information.

28. This student is active. He entered a US school
in December of 2011, so he has been in a US
school for 1-2 years. He has also been
receiving EL services for the same amount of
time, 1-2 years.

29. A student listed as refused on this
report will have different numbers
bubbled in for these two sections of
the demographic sheet. Refused
means that the student qualified for
services, but the parents/guardians
refused EL services. A student
classified as refused has never
received EL services.

30. This student is classified as refused. She has never received
EL services, so you must bubble in the circle “<1 year” in the
section called “How Long Instructed in ESL”. She has been
enrolled in a US school since August 1998. For the section
called “Length of Enrollment in a U.S. school,” you would
bubble in the circle for “5+years”.

31. For students classified as Opt
out, you will have different
numbers bubbled in on these
two sections of the
demographic sheet. Opt out
means that the student
qualifies for EL services and
received EL services at one
time; however, the
parents/guardians decided
they no longer wanted the
student to receive EL services.

32. This student entered a US school in August
2010 . You would bubble in “2-3 years” for
“Length of Enrollment in a US school”.
However, the student was opted-out of
services. You will have to bubble in a
different box for “How long instructed in
ESL.” See the next slide for instructions on
how to find the information for “How long
instructed in ESL” for a student classified as
opt out.

33. This student enrolled in a US She opted-out of EL services in
school in August 2010. August 2012. This means that
she received EL services for two
years.

34. She has been enrolled in a US
school for 2-3 years, but only
received EL services for 1-2 years.

36.  Any individual currently licensed by the Tennessee
Department of Education as a teacher, counselor or
administrator
 Translators and aides may not administer the ELDA

37. These students must take ELDA:
 Active ELs
 Opted-out ELs
 Refused ELs
 EL students on consultation
It is imperative that you test all active,
opt-out, refused and consultation
students!

38.  T1 and T2 Students
 NELB Students

39. The report “Eligible for ELDA Testing” can
be run from Chancery. This report will
list all the students at your school who
MUST TAKE the ELDA test. Any student
appearing on this list must take all
portions of the ELDA. Consultation
students will appear on this report as
“Active”. Consultation students are not
in EL classes, but they still MUST BE
TESTED. Contact Deana Conn in the EL
office if you have any questions about
who should be tested.

40.  If a student does not take ANY PART the ELDA
test, you must complete a form indicating the
reason that the student was not tested. This
form will be provided with the ELDA materials by
Group Testing.
 Please do NOT exclude from the testing students
receiving exceptional ed services unless it is
specifically stated in the student’s IEP that he or
she will not take the ELDA test.

41.  Schools may set their own testing schedule.
 ELDA is not a timed test.
 Make-ups for absentees are permitted.
 Flexibility in sequencing of the subtests (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) is permitted.
 Language domain subtests can be broken into
separate testing periods. You can give the reading
test, for example, over the course of several days.

42.  Reading, Writing, Listening
 Maximum of 20 students per testing group
 Additional trained proctors must assist if more than 20
students.
 Speaking
 Given one-on-one and scored by the assessor at the time
the student takes the test
 Must be scored by teacher knowledgeable of the
assessment

43.  Specified in the student’s IEP or 504
 Extended/Adjusted Time
 Individual/Small Group Administration
 Modified Test Booklets (Large Print, Braille) -
should already be ordered
The test is not timed, so there is no time limit for each assessment.
There are no accommodations allowed on the ELDA except for
those listed here. No part of the test can be read aloud to the
students except for the directions that are given in the test
administrator’s manual.

44.  For each test administrator:
 Listening Prompt CD (1 for each grade clusters )
 Speaking Prompt CD (1 for each grade cluster)
 Speaking Scoring Guide
 Test Administration Manual
 Oath of Security must be signed by each test administrator
and proctor and then given to School Test Coordinator.
The Test Coordinator at your school will have a copy of the
oath of security.
 For each student:
 One test booklet containing the Reading and Writing Tests
 One test booklet containing the Listening and Speaking
Tests
 One student answer document

45. Cluster Listening Speaking Reading Writing
3-5 35 minutes 20 minutes 45 minutes 1 hour
6-8 45 minutes 20 minutes 45 minutes 1 hour
9-12 45 minutes 20 minutes 45 minutes 1 hour

46.  Teachers may schedule breaks as needed during testing,
as long as breaks come between parts of the test. For
example, teachers may choose to take a break between
parts 2 and 3 of the reading test.
 The Speaking assessment will take less than 30 minutes.
A break is not necessary.

48. The Reading Assessment
Part 1: Short Passages
This section tests the student’s ability to understand information in short reading
passages. There are one or more questions about each passage.
Part 2: Instructions
This section tests the student’s ability to understand directions. There is a different
set of instructions for each question. The student will need to identify which
person followed the directions correctly.
Part 3: Longer Passages
This section tests the student’s ability to understand information in longer reading
passages. The student will answer several questions about each passage.
You will be asked to read the scripted directions in the test administration manual
prior to each part.

49. The Writing Assessment
Part 1: Open Ended
Students write responses to prompts.
Part 2: Revise and Edit
Students choose the best answer to correct grammar and
usage errors in passages.
Part 3: Graphic Organizers
Students answer multiple choice questions about graphic
organizers.

50. The Listening Assessment
Part 1: Short Phrases. 1 question for each phrase
Part 2: Short Dialogues. 1 question for each dialogue
Part 3: Long Dialogues. 2 questions for each dialogue
Part 4: Short Presentations. 1 question for each short presentation
Part 5: Long presentations (for clusters 6-8 and 9-12 only):
4 questions for each presentation
On each listening CD, the narrator will read the entire content of the
test booklet.
You will be asked to read the scripted directions from the test
administration manual before playing the listening CD.

51. A CD is used to give students the listening test.
Once you begin playing the listening CD, you many
not rewind, replay, or pause it. You must play the
CD as it is. The listening passage is read two times.
The question is read one time, but the students
also have the question and answer choices listed in
their test booklet. Students have 10 seconds to
respond to each question once the narrator has
read the last option.

52. Preparation For Administering the
Listening Assessment
Prior to administering the Listening assessment it is critical to:
 Read through the scripted administration directions that you are expected
to read to students.
 Make sure that the Listening CD is appropriate for the grade level being
assessed.
 Listen to some of the CD before using it to ensure that it is not defective.
 Test both the CD player and the CD to ensure that the prompting recording
will be audible to all students. If the CD player requires batteries, make sure
that they will last the entire assessment session.
 Place the CD player at a centrally located place in the room. Turn it on and
listen to it from each student’s seat. Are the prompts and timing signals
easily audible? If not, adjust the volume accordingly.

53. Prepare the Room for the
Listening Assessment
 The room must be free from outside noise
from the hallway and adjoining
classrooms.
 Students should be seated far enough
apart so that they do not distract one
another.
 All students and the test administrator
must be able to hear what is on the CD.

55. Preparation For Administering the Speaking
Assessment
Equipment
You will need a CD player to play the prompting recording.
 Make sure that you test the sound quality of the prompting
recording before the administration to identify an appropriate
volume setting.
Materials
 Student test booklet (contains supportive graphics for
students)
 Student answer document (for test administrator to record
score)

56. Preparation For Administering
the Speaking Assessment
Prior to administering the Speaking assessment you should:
 Read through the directions in the Test Administration
Manual.
 Read through the Speaking Scoring Guide.
 Listen to the first 2 minutes of the prompting recording to
make sure the CD is not defective, then rewind or restart the
CD. During the first two minutes, you will hear the
administration practice task.

57. The speaking test is given to students one-on-one.
The student will listen to a CD and give oral
responses to prompts on the CD. The teacher or
test administrator will grade student responses in
real time as the student is speaking. Once you
begin playing the CD, you may not rewind, replay
or pause it. The student will have some visual
support to go along with the speaking prompt.

58. Before assessing
students, please
familiarize yourself
with the Speaking
Scoring Rubric found in
the Speaking Scoring
Guide. This scoring
rubric will give you
specific guidance on
the responses required
for each type of
question on the test.

59. The speaking assessment has 4 item types:
 Connect
 Tell
 Expand
 Reason
The speaking CD gives students very specific
directions for answering each type of question.

60.  Each student response may receive a score of 0,
1 or 2.
 0 = no credit for the response
 1 = partial credit for the response
 2 = full credit for the response

61. Each type of question has different requirements
for the amount and complexity of speech
required in order for the student to receive full
credit for a response. The assessor will judge the
student response in real time. Student responses
are NOT recorded. The assessor will bubble in 0,
1, or 2 on the student’s answer sheet
immediately after each response.

62. On the speaking section of the student answer sheet
there are additional letter codes listed along with the
numbers 0, 1 and 2. These codes are optional codes that
may be used INSTEAD of the 0 code. You do not have to
use the letter codes. If a student receives no credit for a
response, bubbling in a 0 is sufficient. If you choose to
use the letter codes rather than bubbling in a 0 for a no
credit response, be sure that you do NOT bubble in a 0
and a letter code at the same time. Only bubble in one or
the other. See the following screen for an explanation of
the letter codes.

64. Deana Conn
259-3282, x 858247
Deana.conn@mnps.org
Measurement Incorporated
ELDA helpline 888-612-0180
Elda@measinc.com