STAAR — the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness — is the state-mandated testing program for students in grades 3 through 12. In elementary and middle school, assessments are designed to evaluate progress and to make sure youngsters are meeting grade-level expectations. Click here for more information on STAAR. 

TELPAS assesses the English language proficiency of K–12 ELLs in four language domains—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. English language proficiency assessments in grades K–12 are federally required to evaluate the progress that ELLs make in becoming proficient in the use of academic English. The assessment components for grades K–1 and 2–12 differ in the following ways:

 

■■ grades K–1: TELPAS includes holistically rated listening, speaking, reading, and writing

assessments based on ongoing classroom observations and student interactions.

 

■■ grades 2–12: TELPAS includes multiple-choice reading tests, holistically rated student writing collections, and holistically rated listening and speaking assessments. The listening and speaking assessments are based on ongoing classroom observations and student interactions.

 

English language proficiency tests in reading have been administered as part of the Texas Student Assessment Program since 1999–2000. The holistically rated assessments have been administered since 2003–2004.

Historical information about TELPAS may be found in the annual Texas Student Assessment Program Technical Digest at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/techdigest.

 

Click here for more information on TELPAS.