TELPAS Alternate Participation Requirements

Owned by Bruce Malone
Last updated: Oct 02, 2024 by Robyn Gammill
2 min read

All students enrolled in Texas public schools and open-enrollment charter schools, including virtual schools, are required by federal and state law to participate in the Texas Assessment Program. EB students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 who are not over the age of 21 are required to be assessed annually in English language proficiency until they are determined to be proficient by meeting the EB student reclassification criteria available on the Bilingual and English as a Second Language Education Programs webpage. This includes students classified as EB/EL in PEIMS whose parents have declined bilingual or ESL program services (PEIMS code C). Refer to the LPAC Decisions Educator Guide on the Assessments for Special Populations webpage.

A student’s ARD committee, in conjunction with the LPAC, must determine if an EB student receiving special education services meets the participation requirements for TELPAS Alternate available on the TELPAS Alternate Resources webpage. The following grade-level guidelines apply:

  • Students in grades 3–12 who meet all participation requirements will take TELPAS Alternate. If students do not meet all participation requirements, they must take TELPAS.

  • For students in grade 2, the ARD committee, in conjunction with the LPAC, must make an assessment determination for TELPAS Alternate, as there is no STAAR Alternate 2 assessment for grade 2. Such students should take TELPAS unless the committees determine that TELPAS Alternate is more appropriate.

  • Students in kindergarten and grade 1 must be assessed with TELPAS holistically rated assessments, as there is no TELPAS Alternate assessment for those grades.

In rare circumstances a student’s ARD committee may determine prior to the test administration that the student will not participate in TELPAS Alternate because the student meets the eligibility criteria for a medical exception or no authentic academic response. Refer to the eligibility criteria on the TELPAS Alternate Resources webpage for more information.

For information on EB students who enroll in a district before or during the administration window, refer to the Student Mobility page of these Coordinator Resources.