Alternate Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Alt-OELPA)

Overview. The Department of Education and Workforce provides its schools the Alternate Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Alt-OELPA) to measure the English language proficiency of eligible English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades K-12. The Alt-OELPA assesses proficiency across four language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and includes the academic English language students need to access and make progress in grade-appropriate content taught in English.

The Alt-OELPA offers English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities a way to demonstrate their English language proficiency on a more accessible assessment that is based on alternate proficiency expectations for English language development. The Alt-OELPA is aligned to Ohio’s Learning Standards-Extended for English Language Proficiency (ELP), which are guidelines for educators to support students’ English language development. Ohio’s extended ELP standards reflect the language proficiency expectations for students necessary to acquire and demonstrate their achievement of the knowledge and skills identified in Ohio’s Learning Standards-Extended for English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

All public elementary and secondary schools administer the OELPA or Alt-OELPA annually to assess each English learner’s progress toward the attainment of English language proficiency and their readiness to exit the English language development program. All English learners, including English learners with disabilities, participate in the OELPA or Alt-OELPA in addition to other state assessments required in their grade level. These purposes are consistent with the requirements for assessing and reporting students’ acquisition of English language proficiency under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the requirement to administer state assessments designated under Ohio Administrative Code 3301-13-02 and 3301-13-11.

Students’ Alt-OELPA results provide important information about what students know and can do in English. Results of the Alt-OELPA promote access to the grade-level curriculum. They also can help families and educators establish appropriate English language proficiency expectations and inform decisions about appropriate services and instruction.

While the OELPA and Alt-OELPA are similar in many ways, the Alt-OELPA has its own set of student eligibility requirements, administration procedures, accessibility features, and assessment accommodations. It is essential that district and school staff understand these differences so that they can administer the assessment appropriately. For more information about the Alt-OELPA, including which students are eligible for the assessment, administration procedures, and available accessibility features and accommodations, please refer to the Alt-OELPA Resources section below.

ELPA21. Ohio works with a group of states coordinated by English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21^st Century (ELPA21) to develop and maintain the Alt-OELPA. The Alt-OELPA was developed with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education. ELPA21 refers to the assessment as the Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessment or Alt ELPA. Ohio refers to the assessment as the Alternate Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment or Alt-OELPA.

Current News

For important updates and announcements about the Alt-OELPA, please visit the Announcements page of the Ohio English Language Proficiency Tests Portal. Additionally, educators may wish to subscribe to the District Test Coordinator Bulletin to receive monthly updates from the Office of Assessment about the state assessments.

Important Dates

Like the OELPA, the Alt-OELPA test window is eight weeks and typically coincides with the months of February and March. Results become available to districts and schools in the Centralized Reporting System in April or May. See the Important Dates page on the test portal and Test Dates webpage for exact dates.

Ohio's English Language Proficiency Tests Portal

Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Tests Portal is the gateway to state test administration systems and resources for:

• Students and Families;
• Teachers, test administrators and test coordinators; and 
• Technology coordinators. 

The portal is maintained by the Department’s vendor, Cambium Assessment, Inc.

Alt-OELPA Resources

Note: Although most information remains consistent from year to year, the Department and Cambium Assessment update many of the resources below during the months preceding each test administration.

TRAINING RESOURCES, MANUALS, AND ADMINISTRATION DOCUMENTS

ELPA21 Training Courses for the Alt-OELPA
Ohio’s membership in ELPA21 provides Ohio educators administering the Alt-OELPA with three, self-paced, online training courses. Test coordinators and test administrators working with the Alt-OELPA complete the training annually.

Alt-OELPA Participation Guidelines
This document outlines the student participation criteria for the Alt-OELPA to guide individualized education program (IEP) teams in determining eligibility for participation.

Alt-OELPA Accessibility and Accommodations Manual
The accessibility manual reiterates the participation guidelines and guides the selection and administration of appropriate universal features, designated supports, accommodations, and domain exemptions for the Alt-OELPA. The appendices provide useful information and tools for educators determining the supports students may need to access the test, including a participation checklist, a participation flowchart, and accessibility planning tools.

Alt-OELPA Test Administration Manual
This manual provides information about the Alt-OELPA, including an overview of the test and item types, directions for test administrators, and a script of student directions to be read by test administrators. The test administration manual is needed during test administration.

Alt-OELPA Translated Test Directions for Administration
These scripts and the corresponding audio files are verbatim translations of the Directions for Administration found in the Alt-OELPA Test Administration Manual. The translations include Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese for each domain test (listening, reading, speaking, and writing).

Alt-OELPA Test Administrator Directions and Scoring Rubrics Booklets (SECURE – not posted publicly)
Test administrators must have these booklets before beginning any Alt-OELPA domain test. These secure booklets contain specific directions and the test administrator’s script for each domain test and grade band. There are 24 booklets, one booklet for each of the four domain tests in each of the six grade bands. The booklets for the speaking and writing domains also contain scoring rubrics that test administrators will use to score student responses during the test. To access the booklets, test administrators must download the booklets from the General Resources tab in the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE). The booklets are highly secure and must be deleted or destroyed after testing. Refer to the Alt-OELPA Test Administration Manual or contact the Ohio Help Desk at 1-877-231-7809 for more information.

Alt-OELPA Technology Skills Checklist
This document lists the technology skills that students being administered the Alt-OELPA may need to perform, though test administrators can help students navigate the test and its tools as needed.

Alt-OELPA Tool Button Image and Description Sheet
This document explains the various controls students may see when taking the test. This sheet was created to support students when test administrators proctor the Alt-OELPA Practice Tests.

Alt-OELPA Practice Test Resources
These documents guide the administration of the Alt-OELPA sample items from the Practice Test Site and include test administrator directions, scoring rubrics, and a practice test guidance document.

Alt-OELPA Webinar
This page features the webinars regarding the Alt-OELPA.

ALT-OELPA REPORTING RESOURCES

Understanding Alt-OELPA Student Reports: A Quick Guide for Educators
The quick guide helps educators understand students’ Alt-OELPA results and the Individual Score Report (ISR).

Alt-OELPA Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs)
This document describes what English learners’ language usage looks like at each performance level for each of the four language domains across the grade bands.

Alt-OELPA Reporting Cut Scores by Modality
This document lists the modality cut scores for the four performance levels of the Alt-OELPA.

Alt-OELPA Parent Guide to Student Reports
This guide explains the Alt-OELPA results on the Individual Student Report (ISR) to parents and guardians. The guide is available in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, English, Karen, Marshallese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese.

Alt-OELPA Student Results Data File Layouts
The file layouts show how the student data files exported from the Centralized Reporting System are formatted to assist districts and schools with uploading results to their local student information systems.

Alt-OELPA Technical Reports & Manual

Alt-OELPA Technical Reports
These reports provide comprehensive documentation of the Alt-OELPA administration and results each school year. The technical reports are generally published in the autumn or winter following the academic year they cover.

Alt-OELPA Technical Manual
This manual provides technical details on the development of the Alt-OELPA, including test design, item development, scoring processes, psychometric models, standards setting, reliability, validity, and reporting.

ELPA21 Resources

• ELPA21's Alt ELPA Webpage
• Alt ELPA Glossary
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (Arabic)
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (English)
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (Mandarin Chinese)
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (Spanish)
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (Swahili)
• Alt ELPA Parent Glossary (Vietnamese)
• Alt ELPA Theory of Action
• Alt ELPA Frequently Asked Questions
• Alt ELPA Test Questions Brief
• Alt ELPA Overall Proficiency and Modality Performance Levels

Ohio's Alt-OELPA Community of Practice

The Department acknowledges and thanks Ohio’s Alt-OELPA Community of Practice members for contributing experience, expertise, and insight toward the development of the Alt-OELPA. These educators have been volunteering since 2021 to provide feedback, participate in training, and support the Alt-OELPA pilot test. Collectively, the members’ service has helped bring this assessment to fruition. For information about joining the Alt-OELPA Community of Practice, please contact Katie Crow.

Last Modified: 7/9/2025 9:29:21 AM

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