Home > Testing > Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) > Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) FAQ

Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) FAQ

This guidance answers the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) received by the Ohio Department of Education regarding the OELPA.

Note: Throughout the frequently asked questions, the term “districts” refers to public school districts and community schools.

General Questions

What is the Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA)?

The Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) is the state summative test that districts administer to students identified as English learners in grades K-12 to determine an English learner’s progress to English language proficiency and readiness to exit from the English language development program. The OELPA is aligned to Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Standards and meets the federal and state requirements of an annual assessment of English language proficiency measuring listening, speaking, reading and writing. The OELPA also is the basis for the English Language Proficiency Improvement Indicator in the Gap Closing component of the Ohio School Report Card.

How was the OELPA developed?

The OELPA was developed in partnership with English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21^st Century (ELPA21) through a federal Enhanced Assessment Grant. Seven states are members with ELPA21: Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon and West Virginia. OELPA is Ohio’s name for the same ELPA21 summative test administered by the other ELPA21 states.

Who takes the OELPA?

All English learners in grades K-12 must be included in Ohio’s English language proficiency assessment program annually. Districts must administer the OELPA or Alt-OELPA to every English learner. Districts may not exclude any English learners. Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, districts may administer the Alt-OELPA to eligible English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Please visit the Alt-OELPA webpage for more information about Ohio’s alternate assessment of English language proficiency.

An English learner enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school is not required but may take the OELPA or Alt-OELPA. Chartered nonpublic schools that receive Title III equitable services should consult with the Title III public district to determine whether the OELPA or some other assessment will be used to provide evidence of student progress in the school’s English language development program.

Do foreign-exchange students have to take the OELPA?
Foreign exchange students identified as English learners in grades K-12 are required to be administered the OELPA. Foreign exchange students participate in all state tests for their enrolled grade.

Is a screener associated with the OELPA?
Yes, the Department provides the Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener (OELPS) as part of the Ohio’s English language proficiency assessment suite. Districts administer the OELPS to identify English learners. Refer to the OELPS webpage for more information.

OELPA Format and Test Design

What are the grade bands?

The grade bands are Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grades 2-3, Grades 4-5, Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12. The OELPA grade bands align with the grade bands in the Ohio English Language Proficiency Standards. The OELPS and the Alt-OELPA are based on the same grade bands.

What is the design of the OELPA?

The OELPA is an online test with 99% of the students using the online format. Ohio allows OELPA paper tests as an accommodation for specific pre-approved situations. All districts are expected to schedule time and provide technology appropriately for their local situations.

What is the paper test of the OELPA?
The paper tests are paper-based versions of the OELPA and include paper-pencil, large-print and braille forms. The paper test is intended as an accommodation and requires pre-approval from the Department. The paper test includes all four domain tests: listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Which situations allow districts to administer paper tests?
The following are situations where students, districts and schools may be eligible for paper testing:

A district or school with students who will require the use of paper tests as an accommodation documented in an IEP or 504 plan or due to a student’s religious beliefs; or
A district or school that lacks the required technology infrastructure to test all students online, including schools that:
- Are new to state testing and verify a lack of technology to test all students online; or
- Experience a change in the district’s or school’s technology system that impacts capacity to test all students online.

Approval of the paper order depends on the district submitting a reason in TIDE in the comment box explaining why the district needs an exception to online testing. Districts submit paper orders during the initial paper test order window in the fall. Districts can order additional paper tests during the additional paper test order window, which coincides largely with the OELPA test window each year. See Important Dates on the OELPA portal for more information.

May districts order paper tests for English learners that cannot be administered the OELPA in person?
No. Remote or virtual education is not an approved reason for the use of paper tests. Refer to the allowable reasons stated above for the use of paper tests.

In addition to the paper test, what special versions of the OELPA are available?
Large-print and braille test booklets are available and are ordered through TIDE. Please go to the TIDE User Guide for procedures on submitting paper orders.

If approved for paper test administration, what materials are required for the OELPA paper test?
A paper test, including administration manuals, is available for grades K-12 for students who cannot test online. PreID labels are required for the paper tests. Preprinted preID labels are included with the initial paper test order but are not included with any additional paper test orders. Districts must order the print-on-demand label forms when submitting their additional paper test order.

What kind of items and tasks do students complete when taking the OELPA?

Item types include multiple-choice, word match, drag and drop, short-constructed response and extended response. Examples of item types for an online test can be found at the Student Practice Site. Items and tasks are similar on the online and paper tests, though some online items cannot be replicated on the paper test.

Accessibility and Accommodations

Are accommodations available for the OELPA?
Yes. Please review the Accessibility Manual for Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Assessments for appropriate accommodations on the OELPA. Please review Ohio’s Accessibility Manual for English learner appropriate accommodations on Ohio’s State Tests.

Are translations available for the OELPA?

The OELPA test directions are available in Arabic, Somali and Spanish translations on the OELPA portal. All test questions and student responses must be in English as this is a test to determine the level of English proficiency. View the OELPA Translated Online Test Directions here.

What is domain exemption?
Domain exemption is unique to Ohio’s English language proficiency assessments. Domain exemption is for individual student situations that preclude engagement with any of the four language domains (listening, reading, writing and speaking). Districts may exempt students from a domain test if the student’s disability prohibits the student from participating in the stated domain.

Districts will register students exempted from any domain tests in TIDE in advance of the test window and will indicate the exemptions under test settings and tools in TIDE. Districts must mark domain exemption(s) prior to the start of the test. Please see the TIDE User Guide for instructions on manually editing or uploading test settings.

Please note the exempted domain test(s) will appear in the list of available tests in the TA (test administrator) Interface for the student. The test administrator must review the tests and only approve those tests that are not exempted. The student will see the exempted test(s) if the test administrator approves the exempted test(s). If this situation occurs, district test coordinators must submit a test status request in TIDE to reset the domain tests from which the student should have been exempted.

Districts may exempt students from no more than three of the four domain tests on the OELPA if the student’s disability is such that the student cannot participate in the stated domain test per the individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan with existing accommodations. The domain exemption must be documented on the IEP or 504 plan to be allowed. For example, students with hearing impairments could be exempt from taking the listening domain test; a nonverbal student could be exempt from taking the speaking domain test. An English learner reading below grade level, however, still is a reader and would not qualify for an exemption. Students must complete at least one domain test to count in district participation.

Students will receive an overall designation of Proficient if they receive 4’s and/or 5’s on all non-exempt domains. Students cannot receive an overall designation of Proficient if any domain is untested in the absence of a valid exemption or invalidated after testing.

May a domain exemption be applied due to a school or district’s inability to administer the OELPA in person?
No. Domain exemptions are permitted only for English learners who cannot access the domain test(s) due to a disability. The Department’s domain exemption policy is located in Section V of the Accessibility Manual for Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Assessments.

Manuals

Which manuals, guidance documents and resources are available for the OELPA?
OELPA manuals, guidance documents and resources are posted on the test portal under Resources except for the Directions for Administration, which is a secure document sent with the paper test materials.

Manuals:

Test Coordinator Manual. Covers policies and procedures for districts administering the OELPA. It is not secure and does not need to be returned.
Test Administration Manual. Test Administrator Manual. This manual is for the online test only and guides the test administrator and student log-in procedures and covers general test administration activities. It is not secure and not required to be returned.
Directions for Administration. This manual is for the paper test only and includes the script to be read aloud for all students. It is a secure document and must be returned with test materials. It is unavailable on the Department’s website or the test portal; it is shipped with the district’s paper test orders.
Accessibility Manual for Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Assessments. This manual describes and lists the universal tools and designated supports available to all students and the accommodations and domain exemption policy for students with documented need in their IEP/504 plans.
OELPA Understanding Results Manual. Explains the data used to create the results.

Guidance Documents:

Data Entry Interface User Guide for Paper Tests. Data Entry Interface User GuideSupports users of the Data Entry Interface (DEI) to enter student responses for the K-12 paper tests;
Centralized Reporting System User Guide. This user guide gives instructions on using the Reporting System for the following: Accessing summative assessment data for the OELPA and non-summative assessment data for the OELPS.

Resources:

Local Scoring Tutorial for Speaking. This tutorial provides information and training for TAs that are completing the local scoring;
OELPA Webinars. Several webinars present information on the OELPA test administration, reporting and scoring;
OELPA FAQ on the test portal Provides frequently asked questions and the responses given;
OELPA Constructed-Response Rubrics. The rubrics present the scoring criteria for students' constructed responses from the speaking and writing domain tests of the OELPA.

Test Administration

Must the OELPA be administered in person?
Yes, the OELPA must be administered in person. There is no remote administration for the OELPA online or paper formats. The expectation is that districts administer the OELPA to English learners in-person if it can be done safely. The Ohio Department of Education emphasizes that districts first and foremost be attentive to the safety of students and staff.

Districts should plan and communicate a procedure and schedule to safely administer English learners the OELPA in-person. Parent determination relative to safety should be considered and respected.

What are the dates for the OELPA test administration?

The OELPA test administration dates are found on the Test Dates webpage. Generally, districts administer the OELPA in February and March each school year. Important dates also are posted to the OELPA portal.

Can districts administer the OELPA outside the test window?
No. Districts must administer the OELPA during the eight-week test window. To ensure timely reporting of OELPA results, testing outside the test window is not possible.

If a student enrolls shortly before or during the OELPA test window, should the OELPS be administered or can the OELPA be administered as the identification assessment?
The Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener (OELPS) must be administered. All potential English learners must be administered the OELPS to complete Ohio’s standardized English learner identification within 30 days of the student’s date of enrollment. Refer to the guidelines for Identifying English Learners for more information.

All students identified as English learners in grades K-12 who are enrolled (attending school) shortly before or during the OELPA or Alt-OELPA test windows must be administered the OELPA or Alternate Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Alt-OELPA). The OELPA and Alt-OELPA are not instruments to identify students as English learners. They are longer, comprehensive summative assessments, and the results of these assessments would not be available to the school until mid-May, which is long after the federal 30-day English learner identification requirement.

Will there be an extension to the OELPA test window?
No. It is not anticipated there will be a need for an extension to the Spring 2022 OELPA test window.

Are translated test directions available for the OELPA in languages other than English?
Yes. Translated scripts and audio test directions are available in Spanish, Arabic and Somali for the OELPA. Note: Only the general test directions are translated; the item prompts, test questions and student responses may not be translated.

In what order do districts administer the four domain tests of the OELPA?

There is no fixed or required sequence. Districts may administer the four OELPA domain tests in the order of their choice within the test window. Domain tests need not be administered on consecutive days, nor all domain tests in the same day.

May districts administer multiple domain tests on the same day?
Yes, although it is not recommended as multiple tests in one day may cause undue pressure for the student. However, if districts administer multiple domain tests in one day, test administrators should allow students to take a break between tests to reduce testing fatigue. The test administrator also must ensure that enough time is scheduled so that all tests started are completed on the day they are begun.

Can districts administer the OELPA to a group of students?
The listening, speaking, reading and writing tests may be given to students individually or in a group administration. When scheduling administrations, districts should consider that students taking the speaking test will speak their responses aloud. To maintain test validity and security, the speaking test must be administered so that students cannot hear one another and that recordings do not pick up others’ voices. Thus, districts should test students in large quiet spaces and/or in groups as small as the test window and scheduling allow. Districts administering the speaking test to groups of students could provide students headsets with headphones and microphone to ensure the recordings are audible and clear. If possible, the Department recommends that schools administer the speaking test one-to-one, with one student and one test administrator.

May the student start a test on one day and complete the test on another day?
A student should complete each domain test on the same day in which it was started. There may be extraordinary circumstances that would cause a student’s test to be stopped. In these cases, the district test coordinator should submit a test status request to reopen the domain test and explain the situation in TIDE. Reopening a domain test to resume the test on another day requires Department approval.

Is it necessary to register the English learners who will take the OELPA?
Yes. Districts must register or preidentify each English learner in TIDE to take the OELPA or the Alt-OELPA. Registration places the student in the system so the student can access the test. Registration also allows the test administrator to configure test settings and accommodations when necessary.

Who administers the OELPA?

A test administrator must meet the following criteria to administer the OELPA:

Be an employee of the district or school; and
Hold a current license, certificate or permit issued by the Ohio Department of Education.

The license or certificate is not limited to a teaching license or certificate.

The test administrator must not be

Substitute teachers not employed by the district;
A student teacher; or
A student.

What assistance may the test administrator give to the student?
Students who cannot effectively navigate the online OELPA on their own because they are without the necessary skills or experience may have a trained test administrator assist with test navigation. For example, the test administrator may assist with the mouse, point-and-click, drag-and-drop and on-screen tools. The test administrator may assist only with the technology as indicated by the student and must not assist with answer selection. Influencing a student’s answer selection or response is a test security violation and will invalidate the assessment.

On writing items where the student is to compose a written response, only students with a scribe documented on the IEP or 504 plan may have the test administrator type their handwritten responses into the online test. For students who are incapable of typing their own responses, see the “Scribe” non-embedded accommodations in the Accessibility Manual for Ohio’s English Langue Proficiency Assessments .

How much time should a district schedule for the tests?

The tests are untimed; however, estimated testing times are available on the OELPA webpage for districts to schedule test time.

What are the consequences of not taking the OELPA?
The Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) is critical to the services districts must provide English learners. In fact, federal and state education laws require all districts to administer a statewide assessment of English language proficiency annually to all students identified as English learners. If a student does not take the OELPA, there may be consequences for the student, the student’s teachers, and the student’s school and district. The consequences of student nonparticipation in the OELPA are described below.

What are the consequences for students who do not take the OELPA?
Students who do not take the OELPA will maintain English learner status if enrolled in school the following year. To exit English learner status, students must satisfy Ohio’s standardized English learner exit criteria by earning a proficient score on the OELPA.

English learners in grades 9-12 who are pursuing the Ohio Seal of Biliteracy will have fewer opportunities to assert their English proficiency on a high school administration of the OELPA if they do not take the assessment. Proficient scores on a high school administration of the OELPA satisfy the English requirement toward the attainment of the Seal of Biliteracy.

What are the consequences for teachers when students do not take the OELPA?
When students do not participate in the OELPA, teachers will have limited information, such as student growth projections, to help inform instruction. Additionally, local teacher evaluations that rely on results from the OELPA may be affected by students do not take or complete the assessment.

What are the consequences for districts when students do not take the OELPA?
Students who do not take the OELPA will continue as English learners the following school year, so a district’s English learner enrollment may be affected when students do not take the OELPA. Student nonparticipation also can affect a school and district’s school report card.

Practice Test

What is the OELPA practice test?

The OELPA practice test is a short version of the OELPA. The OELPA practice test presents the functions and tools of the OELPA. Students access the practice test from the Student Practice Site on the test portal. The practice test is an online test with options to print items on-request. The practice test is not intended as a content test. Students do not "pass" the practice test.

The Department recommends giving students as much time for practice as necessary to allow the students to become familiar with the technology skills and functions and the type of questions the students will experience on the operational OELPA. Some students may need more time or multiple opportunities to practice. In addition, the practice test allows the districts to check functionality and compatibility of the devices that students will use for the operational test.

The practice test is formatted in four separate domain tests, as is the OELPA. The students will log in and log off for each domain test, just like the operational OELPA. A new feature is the print-on-request of items on the practice test. Students may submit print requests to the test administrators and teachers may print individual items to meet the needs of their students.

Test Security

What test security should be followed for the OELPA?

The OELPA’s four domain tests (listening, reading, writing and speaking) are secure state tests and must follow test security as established in Ohio law and rules. For test security areas, please refer to the test security section in the OELPA Test Coordinator Manual and Ohio’s Test Security Provisions and Procedures guidance on the Department website.

Scoring and Reporting

How is the OELPA scored?

For the OELPA online tests, machine-scored student responses are scored immediately when the tests are submitted. The online student constructed responses (written and spoken responses) are hand scored by the Department’s vendor, Measurement Incorporated.

For the OELPA paper tests, test administrators must enter the student responses to all machine-scored items into the Data Entry Interface (DEI) for scoring. Entering machine-scored student responses into the DEI is a manual process that will need to be completed by the test administrator either at the time of testing or soon after testing is completed but before the testing window closes. Districts must follow the detailed directions for data entry included with paper test orders.

Please note that the OELPA paper tests must be returned to the vendor for hand scoring of constructed-response items once testing is complete.

May English learners who have previously scored proficient on one or more OELPA domain tests be exempted from having to take those domain tests again the following year? For example, a student who scored proficient on the 2022 OELPA speaking test would not have to take the 2023 OELPA speaking test.

No. “Banking” scores or using superscores is not allowed for the OELPA. Federal guidance explicitly states that the annual assessment of English language proficiency must assess all four language domains (reading, writing, listening and speaking).

Additionally, the OELPA and OELPS are scored using a multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model in which every test item contributes to the scores of the other domains, with the greatest weight given to items in that domain.

An English learner’s scores often fluctuate from year to year. Administering all the domain tests (unless exempted in the IEP or 504 plan) ensures the most valid and reliable assessment of English language proficiency.

When are OELPA scores and results available?

OELPA scores are scheduled to be reported in the Centralized Reporting System approximately 45 days from the last day of the test administration window. Based on the current test window, the results are reported electronically in May. Find important test dates on the OELPA portal.

Are rescores and verifications available for the OELPA?
Yes. The OELPA has two features available for the OELPA scoring and reporting: rescores and verifications. The window to request rescores and verifications begins the day OELPA results are reported in the Centralized Reporting System (usually in May) and extends for six weeks.

A district can submit a rescore request in TIDE if it believes a student’s score does not reflect expected student proficiency. There is a $25 charge for processing rescore requests unless the rescore results in a score change.

A district can submit a verification request if the following applies:

The district believes the student tested and did not receive a score, or
The district believes a score was incorrectly assigned to a student who took a paper test.

Are printed score reports available?

Yes. The Department sends two printed, color OELPA Family Reports to districts. Districts also may print Individual Student Reports from the Centralized Reporting System (CRS). The Family Reports are sent to districts a few weeks following the electronic reporting of results, usually the first or second week of June. It is the district’s responsibility to ensure families receive and understand the OELPA results for their child(ren).

Translated OELPA Family Report Templates are posted on the OELPA webpage. To notify English learner parents about their students’ achievements on the OELPA, districts may download the translations to accompany the students’ Family Report in English.

Are translated OELPA Individual Student Report available in languages other than English?
Yes. To support districts’ meaningful communication of the OELPA results to families, translated Individual Student Reports (ISR) in Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Nepali and Swahili are available in the Centralized Reporting System.

Can districts manipulate data in the Centralized Reporting System (CRS) to create their own reports?
Yes. Districts can configure data to meet their reporting needs. For example, results can be sorted by building or teacher. For more information, refer to the Centralized Reporting System Resources and the OELPA Understanding Results Manual on the OELPA portal.

Technology

Is the same online system used for the OELPA as Ohio’s State Tests?

Yes. The Department provides the same online system for the OELPS, the OELPA, the Alt-OELPA, the AASCD, Readiness Assessments and Ohio’s State Tests.

Is there specific information for OELPA on the secure browser?

Yes. Please review the following resources on the OELPA portal:

Do students need a listening device, such as earbuds or headphones?

Yes. Students will need a listening device as there are audio portions of the listening, reading, writing and speaking tests.

Do students need a microphone?

Yes. Students will need a microphone for the speaking test as there are recorded portions. The students will record their oral responses. Districts can check functionality of their microphones by completing the practice test on the TA Practice Site or the Student Practice Site on the test portal.

Are there specific functions required for the devices?

Yes. Districts may choose a headset, headphones or earbuds for the students to use for student use. For example, earbuds may be used for the listening, reading and writing tests since students will not record oral student responses for those tests. A headset may be used for the speaking test to record oral student responses. Districts should determine if the headsets, headphones or earbuds they already have will operate on the system.

Professional Development

On which standards is the OELPA based?

The OELPA is based on the Ohio English Language Proficiency Standards available on the Department’s website.

What resources are available in support of the Ohio ELP Standards?

In developing lesson plans and determining English learners’ progress, teachers may refer to the guidelines for Identifying English Learners that exemplify providing access to content so English learners can show what they know and can do. The guide serves as a resource for teachers to inform instruction and support English learners in their development of English language communication skills needed for success in school. The Instructional Guidelines and Resources for English Language Learners are being revised by a work group through the Ohio State University.

Teachers also may refer to the Achievement Level Descriptors which describe the skills and processes that students demonstrate in language development at each tested grade band.

What materials are available to assist districts administering the OELPA?

Six Professional Development Modules developed by the ELPA21 states on the English Language Proficiency Standards are available.

Professional Learning workshops developed by the ELPA21 states also are available. Register on Eventbrite for the 2022-2023 Ohio-ELPA21 Professional Learning Workshops. Contact Laquita Moss at moss@cresst.ucla.edu for more information.

Tutorials on local scoring for the speaking test and on the Data Entry Interface (DEI) are available on the OELPA Resources page on the test portal.

A webinar on the Test Delivery System for Online Testing also is available on the OELPA Resources page on the test portal.

Districts that wish to host a virtual training session may contact the Office of Assessment at 614-466-1317.

How can educators help English learners prepare for the OELPA?
The Ohio English Language Proficiency Standards should be a regular part of teachers’ lesson planning. Teachers should ensure that English learners are familiar with the types of tasks that are found on the OELPA. Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) are available for each domain and correspond to each of the performance levels. Educators may use the ALDs to differentiate instruction and interventions to meet the individual needs of English learners. The ALDs describe what an English learner can do in relation to skills measured by and demonstrated on the OELPA. The ALDs can be found on the OELPA Resources page on the test portal.

Last Modified: 3/18/2024 9:51:47 AM