Texas Education Agency (TEA) designed the TELPAS to assess the progress that limited English proficient (LEP) students make in learning the English language. Participation of English Language Learners in State Assessments requires language proficiency assessment committees (LPACs) to make assessment decisions on an individual student basis. This is in accordance with administrative procedures established by TEA and in the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 101, Subchapter AA, Commissioner’s Rules.

LPACs need to comply with state requirements as they monitor the progress and needs of English language learners (ELLs) and make state assessment decisions for the following:

-State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR or STAAR ALTERNATE)

-Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS or TELPAS ALTERNATE)

TELPAS is an assessment program for students in Texas public schools who are learning the English language. The Texas Education Agency developed TELPAS to meet state and federal testing requirements. Texas assess English language learners annually in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students learning the English language begin participating in TELPAS in kindergarten and stop participating when their language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) determines that they are proficient in the English language.

For students in grades 2-12, TELPAS has multiple-choice reading tests and online assessments in listening and speaking. Students will be assessed holistically in writing. TELPAS assesses the progress that students are making in learning English.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

-TELPAS PARENT BROCHURE GRADES 2-12 (ENGLISH & SPANISH)

-TELPAS STUDENT TUTORIALS

The following brief descriptions will help you understand the abilities generally demonstrated by students at the four English proficiency levels. The proficiency ratings are applied both individually to each respective category of TELPAS (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), and also holistically to determine an overall composite TELPAS student rating.

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 Englishlanguage 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 Englishlanguage 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.

TEA Writing Collection Overview (PDF)

Student writing collections are created on-campus during Spring semester of the academic year. Student writing collections must meet the following criteria:

• At least 5 total samples are required in each collection.

• At least 1 writing sample that elicits the use of past tense

• At least 2 writing samples from math, science, or social studies

Eligible writing samples include:

• Descriptive writing on a familiar topic

• Writing about a familiar process

• Writing that elicits the use of past tense

• Personal narratives and reflective pieces

• Expository and other extended writing from language arts classes

• Expository or procedural writing from science, math, and social studies classes