Big news for educators in New York State! The New York State Education Department (NYSED) recently announced that New York is officially joining the WIDA Consortium — a national group of 41 states, territories, and education agencies focused on supporting multilingual learners (MLLs/ELLs).
If you teach English as a New Language (ENL), or if you’re a content area teacher who works with English learners in your classroom, this is something you’ll want to know about.
What Is WIDA?
WIDA stands for World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment. It’s part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Education, and its main goal is to help multilingual learners succeed academically and linguistically.
In simple terms, WIDA provides standards, assessments, and resources that help schools:
- Identify English learners
- Track their language growth
- Support their academic success in all subjects
WIDA focuses not just on language, but also on how language connects to content learning — something every teacher can relate to!
Key Dates You Should Know
New York is in the early stages of this transition,
so there’s time to prepare.
Here’s the general timeline:
|
Year |
What’s Happening |
|
Spring 2026 |
Last year for the NYSESLAT (the current annual English language test). |
|
Spring 2027 |
First administration of the WIDA ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS tests. |
|
Fall 2027 |
The WIDA Screener replaces the NYSITELL (used to identify new ELLs). |
Between now and 2027, NYSED will provide training and professional learning to help educators understand WIDA tools and assessments.
What WIDA Provides
Here’s what WIDA brings to the table for New York educators:
1. New English Proficiency Assessments
Starting in 2027, we’ll be using WIDA’s suite of assessments, including:
- WIDA ACCESS (Grades 1–12) – the main yearly test to measure students’ English growth
- WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten – for our youngest learners
- WIDA Alternate ACCESS – for students with significant cognitive disabilities
- WIDA Screener – used when new students enter a school to determine if they qualify for ENL services
There’s even a Braille version for grades 1–12 to support students with visual impairments.
2. Instructional Alignment
Even though the tests are changing, instructional
practices will not.
New York’s Academic and Linguistic Demands framework still applies —
meaning teachers should continue to integrate language development into
content instruction.
In other words:
The way we teach won’t change — but the tools we use to measure language growth will.
3. Support for Teachers and Students
WIDA is known for its comprehensive support system that includes:
- Guidance for identifying and monitoring multilingual learners
- A strong Accessibility and Accommodations Framework for students with different learning needs
- Research-based practices for integrating language and content
- A more developmentally appropriate experience for younger students
For teachers, this means more high-quality resources and collaboration opportunities with colleagues across the country who are already using WIDA.
Why This Matters
Joining WIDA isn’t just about changing assessments — it’s
about joining a larger community of educators committed to multilingual
learners.
It opens the door to:
- National collaboration
- Consistent standards and tools
- Better ways to measure and support English growth
For ENL teachers, it’s a chance to deepen our practice and
connect with WIDA’s professional learning community.
For content area teachers, it’s an opportunity to better understand how
language learning and subject learning go hand in hand.
Final Thoughts
This is an exciting time for New York educators!
As we prepare for this shift, there will be training, resources, and new
opportunities to learn how WIDA can strengthen language and content
instruction.
If you’re an ENL teacher, this is your moment to lead conversations in your school about how WIDA can benefit both students and teachers.
Stay tuned — in future posts, I’ll be sharing:
- Easy explanations of WIDA’s standards
- Sample classroom strategies
- Resources for ENL and content area teachers
- Updates from NYSED as we get closer to full implementation
Sources
- WIDA Consortium. (n.d.). About WIDA. University of Wisconsin–Madison. Retrieved from https://wida.wisc.edu
- State Education Department. (2025, October 6). Update to the English Language Proficiency Assessment.
- State Education Department. (2025, October 8). WIDA Consortium Announcement. Retrieved from https://www.nysed.gov