Assessments

The English Language Proficiency Assessment System (preLAS) is designed to measure English and Spanish language proficiency and pre-literacy skills of learners in early childhood—PreK and Kindergarten.

This assessment:

• consists of an oral language component and a pre-literacy component,

• enables the testing administrator the ability to capture and hold the attention of young children with playful activities and colorful materials that help assess language proficiency,

• provides ESL program entry and exit, instructional placement,

• identifies academic strengths, and

• monitors progress and growth.

The assessment is designed to be administered one-on-one and takes approximately 20 minutes.

LAS Links assesses language within and across academic content areas, language knowledge and functions, and cognitive complexity across performance levels.

Grade 1: Students will be administered the LAS Links Speaking and Listening domains.

Grades 2-5: Students will be administered the LAS Links Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing domains.

This assessment:

• provides information to help classify EBs who require language instruction,

• informs instructional decisions,

• monitors students’ progress toward English proficiency in social and academic language, and

• measures students’ English language proficiency in school settings in relation to the content, literacy, and linguistic goals of College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) and other content standards of a similar nature.

The speaking and listening domains take approximately 10-15 minutes each. The reading and writing domains take approximately 35-45 minutes each.

The English Language Development (ELD) Assessment consists of formatively assessing EBs’ performance in all four language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) to adjust instructional strategies that target and support students’ linguistic and academic needs.

This year, the ELDs will be administered through an online platform called Summit K-12 in the Fall and Spring for EB students in Grades 2-5.

The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) assesses the progress that Emergent Bilingual (EB) students make in learning the English language.

TELPAS Components:

• Texas annually assesses the English language proficiency of students who have been identified as Emergent Bilingual in four language domains — listening, speaking, reading, and writing in grades K-12. This includes EBs whose parents have declined English as a Second Language (ESL) program services.

• Grades K-1: Holistically-rated Assessments in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

• Grades 2-5: Holistically-rated Assessment in Writing. Online Assessments in Reading, Listening and Speaking.

What do TELPAS results tell me about my child?

Every student who participates in TELPAS receives a report card with their test results. TELPAS uses four proficiency ratings—Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High—to show the progress students make in learning English from year to year. For students to reach their full academic potential, it is important for them to make steady progress in learning English. Your child’s proficiency ratings in listening, speaking, reading, and writing will give you a good idea about the progress he or she is making. Students who do not make steady progress may require additional assistance at school.

The following brief descriptions will help you understand the abilities generally demonstrated by students at the four English proficiency levels:

• Beginning—Students who receive this rating are in the early stages of learning English. These students have a small vocabulary of very common words and little ability to use English in academic settings. These students often communicate using English they have memorized.

• Intermediate—Students who receive this rating are able to use common, basic English in routine academic activities but need considerable English-language support to make learning understandable. Socially, these students are able to communicate simply about familiar topics and are generally able to understand conversations but may not comprehend all the details.

• Advanced—Students who receive this rating are able to understand and use academic English in classroom activities when given some English-language support. In social situations, these students can understand most of what they hear but have some difficulty with unfamiliar grammar and vocabulary.

• Advanced High—Students who receive this rating are able to use academic English in classroom activities with little English-language support from others, even when learning about unfamiliar material. Students at this level have a large enough vocabulary in English to communicate clearly and fluently in most situations.

How does academic language proficiency compare to academic achievement?

Academic language proficiency is not the same as academic achievement. English language learners who have academic language proficiency understand English which makes the learning of academic concepts and skills fully accessible. Academic language proficiency, therefore, provides the foundation for, and access to, academic achievement. Language proficiency encompasses both social language proficiency and academic language proficiency.