WIDA Language Charts: What They Are, How They Replace the Rubrics, and How to Use Them

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

The WIDA Language Charts are WIDA’s descriptions of what English Learners can do with language at each of the six proficiency levels, organized by grade-level cluster. Released in May 2025, they are the updated versions of the WIDA Speaking and Writing Rubrics, aligned to the Proficiency Level Descriptors of the 2020 ELD Standards Framework, and from the 2026-2027 ACCESS results WIDA says they can be used to interpret a student’s scores. This guide explains how the charts are built, how they differ from the rubrics they replace, and how a district should put them to work this year.

Executive Summary

WIDA rebuilt ACCESS for ELLs on the 2020 Edition of its ELD Standards Framework, and the Language Charts are the classroom-facing half of that change. Where the old Speaking and Writing Rubrics covered grades 1 to 12 in a single span and only two domains, the charts come in six grade-level clusters (K, 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12), cover both Expressive and Interpretive language, and describe each of the six proficiency levels across three dimensions: Discourse, Sentence, and Word/Phrase.

The timing matters for district leaders. WIDA held its first ACCESS standard setting in ten years in July 2026, will apply new proficiency level cut scores in spring 2027, and says the charts can be used to interpret and communicate ACCESS scores from 2026-2027. Districts that train teachers on the charts this school year will read the new score reports in the same language teachers already use in class. Districts that wait will meet a new scale and a new vocabulary at the same moment.

Key Takeaways

• The Language Charts are the updated WIDA Speaking and Writing Rubrics, released by WIDA in May 2025.
• Six grade-level clusters: K, 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12, instead of one rubric for grades 1 to 12.
• Two modes: Expressive (speaking, writing, representing) and Interpretive (listening, reading, viewing).
• Three dimensions at each level: Discourse, Sentence and Word/Phrase.
• They are free, as printable PDFs and a customizable Excel spreadsheet.
• From 2026-2027, they interpret ACCESS scores, the year new cut scores take effect.
• Their best classroom use is end-of-unit assessment of real student work, with several samples per student.

What Are the WIDA Language Charts?

Definition: the WIDA Language Charts are descriptors of student language use at each of the six WIDA proficiency levels, organized by grade-level cluster and by communication mode, that help educators connect ACCESS scores with the assessment of student language in class.

WIDA states it plainly in its answers to educators’ questions: “The Language Charts are updated versions of the WIDA Speaking Rubric Grades 1-12 and WIDA Writing Rubric Grades 1-12.” They are aligned to the Proficiency Level Descriptors of the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition, which WIDA describes the charts as making “clearer, more actionable and directly connected to classroom instruction.”

Quick answer: if your teachers still score speaking and writing samples with the grades 1-12 rubrics, the Language Charts are the current WIDA tool for that job.

How the Language Charts Are Organized

Each chart crosses four elements. Knowing them is what lets a teacher find the right cell in seconds rather than reading the whole document.

Three details trip up first-time users. The descriptors mark the end of a proficiency level, as the 2020 Proficiency Level Descriptors do, so a student who matches the Level 3 cell has completed Level 3 rather than entered it. Each mode combines two domains, so a teacher who wants a speaking-only reading applies the Expressive chart to speaking samples. And only Level 1 is broken into finer steps, which WIDA notes is “especially useful when setting goals with newcomer students.”

The spreadsheet version, the WIDA Language Charts (Excel), is built to be copied into a district’s own tools, for example a unit rubric or an individual goal sheet.

Language Charts vs the WIDA Speaking and Writing Rubrics

The practical consequence is that a grade 7 writing sample is now judged against a grades 6-8 description rather than a description meant to fit a first grader and a senior at once. For a teacher, that narrows the gap between what the chart says and what the student in front of them is doing. The older rubrics are explained in our guides to the WIDA speaking rubric and the WIDA ACCESS writing score, useful for reading archived student records.

The Language Charts and ACCESS Scores

The charts arrive in the middle of the largest change to ACCESS in a decade. WIDA’s own timeline sets the calendar.

On the 2026 reports, WIDA’s guidance in how standard setting impacts 2026 ACCESS scores is explicit: educators “should treat scale scores as a new baseline to measure growth as you cannot compare scale scores from previous years,” and “should use proficiency level scores with caution as they will reflect the old proficiency level cut scores, which were set in 2016.” The Language Charts, WIDA adds, “provide insight into the revised expectations of ACCESS.”

And for next year: “Beginning with WIDA ACCESS scores in 2026-2027, you can also use the language charts to interpret and communicate about ACCESS scores.” A district that uses the charts in classrooms this year will be reading 2027 score reports in a vocabulary its teachers already share. How the scores themselves are built is covered in how WIDA scores are calculated.

How to Use the WIDA Language Charts

WIDA lists four purposes: getting familiar with the revised ACCESS expectations, collaborating with content colleagues, planning curriculum and instruction, and tracking language development over time. In practice, that becomes a six-step routine.

1. Pick the cluster and the mode. A grade 5 speaking sample uses the 4-5 cluster, Expressive mode.
2. Plan the language of a unit with the content teacher. Read the level most of the class sits at, and the next one, to decide which sentence and discourse features the unit should demand.
3. Collect several samples per student. WIDA recommends analyzing student work across the three dimensions with multiple samples over time before confirming a level.
4. Use the chart as an end-of-unit assessment, the use WIDA suggests, rather than as a one-off label.
5. Set annual goals from the next level’s descriptors. For newcomers, use the finer Level 1 steps.
6. From 2026-2027, read ACCESS reports against the same charts, so classroom evidence and state scores speak the same language.

Funding Language Charts Training

The charts are free. What costs money is the teacher time to learn them and to collect samples, which is professional development.

What each federal program allows is detailed in what Title III funds can be used for.

District Benchmark: What the Expressive Chart Costs in Teacher Time

The Interpretive chart can be applied to work a whole class produces at once. The Expressive chart, for speaking, cannot, and that is where the plan meets the timetable.

Take a teacher with 25 English Learners who wants two speaking samples per student per unit, as WIDA’s multiple-sample advice implies. If each sample is a two-minute response the teacher listens to and places on the chart, that is 25 students, times two samples, times roughly three minutes including scoring: 150 minutes of one-to-one attention per unit. Across six units a year, 15 hours, taken from the same class time that is supposed to give students the speaking practice the chart is measuring.

That arithmetic is the Speaking Time Gap seen from the assessment side: speaking happens one student at a time, so both practicing it and documenting it divide by class size, while reading and writing scale with the length of the period.

Common Mistakes District Leaders Make

1. Keeping the grades 1-12 rubrics in unit assessments after the charts replaced them.
2. Placing a student from a single sample. WIDA’s guidance is multiple samples over time.
3. Reading a cell as the start of a level. The descriptors describe the end of it.
4. Comparing 2026 proficiency levels with earlier years, when WIDA says to use them with caution.
5. Training ESL teachers only. The charts are built for planning with content colleagues.

Recommended Actions

Immediate (this month): Download the charts and the Excel version, replace the grades 1-12 rubrics in current unit assessments, and tell teachers how to read the end-of-level descriptors.

Medium-term (this year): Run one unit per grade band with the charts as the end-of-unit assessment, with at least two samples per student, and budget the teacher time for speaking samples.

Long-term (strategy): Align goal setting, progress reports and the reading of 2027 ACCESS reports on the same charts, so a student’s level means the same thing in class and on the state report.

Questions District Leaders Should Ask

• Which of our unit assessments still use the grades 1-12 Speaking and Writing Rubrics?
• How many speaking samples per student per unit can our teachers realistically collect?
• Do content teachers plan units with the charts, or only ESL teachers?
• How will we explain 2026 and 2027 ACCESS results to families and boards?
• For how many students is the Expressive speaking level below the Interpretive level?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the WIDA Language Charts?

They are WIDA’s descriptions of student language use at each of the six proficiency levels, by grade-level cluster and by Expressive or Interpretive mode, across the Discourse, Sentence and Word/Phrase dimensions. They are aligned to the 2020 ELD Standards Framework and help educators connect ACCESS scores with classroom assessment.

Do the Language Charts replace the WIDA speaking and writing rubrics?

Yes. WIDA describes the Language Charts as updated versions of the WIDA Speaking Rubric Grades 1-12 and the WIDA Writing Rubric Grades 1-12. The rubrics covered one grade span; the charts cover six grade-level clusters.

When were the WIDA Language Charts released?

WIDA released the Language Charts in May 2025, as printable PDFs and a customizable Excel spreadsheet.

Which grade levels do the Language Charts cover?

Six grade-level clusters: kindergarten, grade 1, grades 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12, aligned with WIDA ACCESS.

Can I use the Language Charts to interpret ACCESS scores?

From the 2026-2027 ACCESS scores, yes. WIDA states that beginning with those scores, educators can use the charts to interpret and communicate about ACCESS results. For 2026 reports, WIDA advises treating scale scores as a new baseline and using proficiency levels with caution.

Are the WIDA Language Charts free?

Yes. WIDA publishes them free of charge on its website, in PDF and Excel formats.

How do the Language Charts help with newcomers?

Level 1 is the only level broken into finer steps, which WIDA says is especially useful when setting goals with newcomer students.

Related Resources

• Complete Guide to WIDA
• WIDA Levels Explained: The Six Proficiency Levels
• WIDA ACCESS Explained
• How WIDA Scores Are Calculated
• WIDA Key Language Uses Explained
• New York’s Transition to WIDA

Conclusion

The WIDA Language Charts are not one more document to file. They are the replacement for the rubrics teachers have used for years, and from 2026-2027 they are the lens for reading ACCESS scores. The districts that get the most from them will be the ones that use them where WIDA intends, at the end of each unit, on several real samples per student, so that a proficiency level means the same thing in the classroom and on the state report.

Sources: WIDA, Experts Answer WIDA Language Charts Questions; WIDA, How to Use Our New Language Charts Right Now; WIDA Language Charts (Excel); WIDA, How Standard Setting Impacts 2026 WIDA ACCESS Scores; WIDA, ACCESS Standard Setting 2026; WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.

The Sample a Teacher Cannot Collect

At the end of a unit, a teacher can grade twenty-five written responses in an evening. Twenty-five spoken responses are a different job: each one has to be produced, heard and placed on the Expressive chart one student at a time, in class, while the other twenty-four wait.

That is not a skills problem. The Language Charts ask for several speaking samples per student, and the timetable gives each student only a few minutes of individual talk per week, so the evidence thins out exactly where the chart is most demanding.

Some districts are adding speaking practice that does not queue for the teacher, and a view of speaking growth the teacher can read at the end of a unit. Telo AI is one example: short sessions, five minutes three times a week, with participation and speaking growth reported on a WIDA-aligned dashboard and none of the conversations kept. See how that works in a classroom.

The charts describe what a student can say. The harder question is how many chances that student had to say it.