For kindergarten and grade 1, TELPAS listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments are administered holistically. Students’ holistic ratings must be entered in the Holistic Ratings Upload template and submitted in TIDE.

For grades 2–12, TELPAS listening and speaking assessments and reading and writing assessments are administered online. An exception may be possible for a student who requires accommodations that cannot be provided online, for a student who is unable to participate in one domain of TELPAS, or for a student whose technology access precludes online testing. In these rare and unavoidable circumstances, a special paper or holistic administration of a TELPAS assessment may be given. Any student who is administered a TELPAS reading assessment on paper must have his or her responses submitted in DEI. Any student who is administered a TELPAS listening, speaking, or writing assessment holistically must have his or her ratings entered in the Holistic Ratings Upload template and submitted in TIDE. Refer to the Special Administration of an Assessment page of these Coordinator Resources for more information.

For the 2023–2024 school year, the six-week test administration window for TELPAS is February 19–March 29, 2024. Each district should establish a local schedule to administer the online assessments and complete the holistic ratings. The TELPAS listening and speaking assessment should be administered on a different day than the TELPAS reading and writing assessment to allow students sufficient time and opportunity to do their best work. District testing personnel should plan to test during the first five weeks of the testing window and reserve the last week to submit data in DEI and enter student information in TIDE, including holistic ratings, score codes, and rater information. In addition, district personnel should verify that all students have been accounted for by 11:59 p.m. (CT) on March 29 based on online assessment submissions, DEI submissions, and TIDE holistic ratings uploads.

Students are expected to complete TELPAS assessments in about three hours. Students who are still testing after four hours should be consolidated into a general testing area to continue testing. Students must complete the assessment within the same school day, and no test sessions may exceed seven hours. Exceptions exist for students who have an approved Extra Day designated support. TEA recommends that district testing personnel begin testing within one hour of the start of the school day. District personnel should exercise judgment about starting a test session after lunch for students who are late, as they may not have sufficient time to complete the assessment before the end of the school day.

Late-Arriving Students

District testing personnel must determine if a late-arriving student will have sufficient time to test during that school day or if the student should test on another day within the testing window.

• Each student must be allowed sufficient time to take the assessment.

• The test directions must be read to late-arriving students.

Make-up Testing

Since TELPAS is administered during a six-week test administration window, district testing personnel should offer make-up testing opportunities to students who were absent on the campus-scheduled assessment day. District personnel must maintain the security of the assessments during make-up testing to ensure that the assessment content remains valid throughout the assessment window. 

Students Who Become Sick During an Assessment

A student who becomes sick and leaves campus during the assessment may complete the assessment, as needed, on a different day within the scheduled testing window. TDS will lock student responses eight hours after an online assessment has been paused. Students who continue testing on another day will be able to view all questions but will not be able to edit responses completed on a previous day.