Students in grades K-12 who are identified as English Learners are required to be assessed annually in the Spring with the TELPAS. The purpose of the assessment is to measure a student’s progress in learning the English language. The TELPAS assessment assesses students in four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Students are provided with a proficiency level of beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high in each language domain along with a composite score. The results are used to inform teachers of a student’s proficiency level with the English language in order to integrate strategies that will help make the content comprehensible for students.  

TELPAS measures each student’s progress in learning academic English and evaluates growth in four language domains:

• Listening – Understanding spoken English in academic and social settings

• Speaking – Using spoken English effectively during learning activities and interactions

• Reading – Comprehending and interpreting written English at the appropriate grade level

• Writing – Producing written English for grade-level classroom assignments

Students are assessed using the Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs), which describe stages of English language development from beginning to advanced high.

Jarrell ISD teachers implement research-based instructional practices that help Emergent Bilingual students develop English proficiency while successfully accessing grade-level academic content. These strategies are designed to support language growth in listening, speaking, reading, and writing across all content areas. 

Examples of effective classroom practices include:

• Language objectives to clearly define the language students will use and develop during instruction

• Sentence stems and academic discourse supports to build confidence in speaking and writing

• Visual supports such as images, graphic organizers, and models to enhance comprehension

• Vocabulary development through explicit teaching of academic language and key concepts

• Cooperative learning structures that promote meaningful peer interaction and language practice

• Reading and writing scaffolds to support comprehension, organization, and written expression

• TELPAS preparation through integrated practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing aligned to language proficiency expectations