TELPAS Alternate Results
Assessment Scores
The following paragraphs briefly describe the types of scores provided for TELPAS Alternate. For more detailed technical information on assessment scores, refer to the Technical Digest, available on the Assessment Reports and Studies webpage.
Scale Scores
The scale score is a statistic that allows comparison of scores by adjusting for variations in the difficulty of the forms used in different administrations. Thus the scale score can be used to determine whether a student achieved the awareness, imitation, early independence, developing independence, or basic fluency proficiency level, to compare one student’s performance to another’s on the same assessment, and to compare performances by cohorts of students on the same assessment in different years. However, the scale score cannot be used to evaluate a student’s progress across grades or domains.
Raw Score
The raw score represents the number of points earned on an assessment. By itself, the raw score has limited utility; it can be interpreted only in reference to the total number of points on an assessment. Raw scores should not be compared across test administrations. The raw score is reported by overall assessment, by domain, and by reporting category. Refer to the Raw Score Conversion Tables webpage for raw score to scale score conversion tables for TELPAS Alternate.
English Language Proficiency Standards
TELPAS Alternate provides a measure of the progress that EB students with the most significant cognitive disability make in learning the English language. Students who take TELPAS Alternate receive proficiency ratings in each language domain assessed—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—as well as a composite rating that combines the language domain ratings into one overall English language proficiency rating. The following paragraphs briefly describe the English language proficiency standards that apply to TELPAS Alternate. Refer to the TELPAS Alternate Proficiency Standards webpage for more information.
Awareness
Students who receive this rating may be aware of English sounds or print; however, they have little or no functional ability to participate in communication activities in English.
Imitation
Students who receive this rating match, imitate, or approximate some English in their environment; however, they are not able to independently understand or produce English. They participate in routine communication activities in a familiar environment when the activities are significantly linguistically accommodated.
Early Independence
Students who receive this rating understand short, simple messages and produce messages of one or two high-need, high-frequency words (e.g., book, cafeteria, teacher). They are starting to participate in linguistically accommodated communication activities in English in familiar environments.
Developing Independence
Students who receive this rating understand longer messages of multiple sentences in English and produce simple, descriptive, original messages by combining two or more words (e.g., new red bike, big fast truck). They participate meaningfully in linguistically accommodated communication activities in English in familiar environments.
Basic Fluency
Students who receive this rating understand and produce more detailed, complex, and elaborate messages with multiple sentences in English. These students participate independently in communication activities in English in familiar environments.
Composite Score and Rating
To fulfill federal requirements, a composite language proficiency score and rating are calculated for each student. To calculate the composite score, the proficiency rating for each of the domains is converted to a domain score from 1 (awareness) to 5 (basic fluency). The domain scores are equally weighted and added for one composite score.
For example, the TELPAS Alternate composite score for a student who has the following language domain ratings is generated as shown.
Language Domain Rating | Domain Score |
Listening: Early Independence | 3 |
Speaking: Basic Fluency | 5 |
Reading: Early Independence | 3 |
Writing: Imitation | 2 |
The domain scores are multiplied by the weight—0.25—and then added together to obtain the TELPAS Alternate composite score.
(3 × 0.25) + (5 × 0.25) + (3 × 0.25) + (2 × 0.25) = 3.25
A student’s TELPAS Alternate composite rating is based on the student’s composite score and ratings for each domain as described in the table below. All of the criteria listed for a proficiency level must be met for a student to receive that composite rating.
TELPAS Alternate Composite Rating Descriptors | |
Awareness |
|
Imitation |
|
Early Independence |
|
Developing Independence |
|
Basic Fluency |
|
The student in this example earned a composite score of 3.25 and a composite rating of early independence.
Students are required to be rated in all four domains for their assessments to be submitted and scored. If students are not rated in all four domains, they will not receive any TELPAS Alternate scores or ratings.
Standard Reports
The following section describes the TELPAS Alternate reports that district testing personnel receive. In addition, reporting data files are provided. The sample reports shown are for illustrative purposes only. They show the basic layout of the reports and the information they provide. Refer to the Assessment Reports page for additional information on standard reports.
Student Report Cards
After the administration, an electronic student report card is provided for each student for whom an assessment record was submitted. Student report cards are confidential and must be made available to parents and guardians.
For TELPAS Alternate, the student report card indicates the English language proficiency rating for each of the four language domains and the composite rating.
A. Identification Information
The top of the student report card contains identification information for both the student (name, identification number, etc.) and the school (district, campus, etc.). For confidentiality, the TSDS ID is indicated by six asterisks followed by the last four digits of the ID number.
B. Proficiency Levels
TELPAS Alternate proficiency levels are listed with abbreviated descriptions. Refer to the English Language Proficiency Standards topic on this page for complete descriptions.
C. Test Results
The student’s test results are shown. A report message might appear in place of the test results, indicating the student’s proficiency status or scoring information. Possible messages are as follows:
MEDICAL EXCEPTION
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s medical condition.
NO AUTHENTIC ACADEMIC RESPONSE
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s disability resulting in the inability to make an authentic academic response.
EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
This message indicates that the student could not be rated due to extenuating circumstances.
NO RATING AVAILABLE
This message indicates that no rating information is available.
This section also displays a scale score bar, which shows how well students could perform on the assessment. The placement of the student’s scale score shows how the student actually performed on the assessment. The score ranges for each proficiency level are also indicated.
D. Points Achieved
This section shows the number of points the student achieved out of the total points possible in each reporting category.
E. Dates
This section indicates the reporting date and the test administration date.
F. Composite Rating
The composite rating indicates the student’s overall English language proficiency level and is determined from the student’s listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency ratings. The student’s composite ratings for this year and last year are shown.
G. Understanding the TELPAS Alternate Report Card
This section explains the information contained in the TELPAS Alternate Proficiency, Scale Score, Reporting Category, Proficiency Level, and Family Portal sections of the student report card.
H. Parent Resources
This section directs parents and guardians to additional resources that they can use to help their child.
Student Labels
After the administration, an electronic student label is provided for each student for whom an assessment record was submitted. The student labels are confidential and must be added to the student’s academic achievement record.
For TELPAS Alternate, the label shows the student’s proficiency rating in each of the four language domains assessed and the composite rating for the current and previous year.
A. Identification Information
The identification information shown at the top of the label includes the student’s name, TSDS ID, birth date, and grade and the district number and name, campus number and name, and date of testing.
B. Language Area
This column lists the four domains assessed: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
C. Proficiency Rating
The label indicates the proficiency level achieved for each domain. A report message might appear in place of the proficiency level, indicating the student’s proficiency status or scoring information. Possible messages are as follows:
MEDICAL EXCEPTION
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s medical condition.
NO AUTHENTIC ACADEMIC RESPONSE
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s disability resulting in the inability to make an authentic academic response.
EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
This message indicates that the student could not be rated due to extenuating circumstances.
NO RATING AVAILABLE
This message indicates that no rating information is available.
D. Composite Rating
The label indicates the composite rating the student achieved this year and last year.
Campus Rosters
A confidential campus roster is available for each campus and lists every student for whom an assessment record was submitted.
A. Identification Information
The top of the report contains identification information for the campus. The grade, report date, and date of testing are also indicated.
B. Student Information
Students are identified by name and TSDS ID.
C. Years in U.S. Schools
This column indicates how many years the student has been enrolled in schools in the U.S. as submitted by the student’s school district.
D. Reporting Categories
The reporting category titles, the total number of points possible, and the points each student achieved are shown for each category in each domain.
E. Scale Score
The scale score the student earned is shown for each domain.
F. Proficiency Rating
The proficiency level each student achieved this year and last year is shown for each domain. A report message might appear in place of a level rating for a domain, indicating the student’s proficiency status or scoring information. Possible messages are as follows:
MEDICAL EXCEPTION
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s medical condition.
NO AUTHENTIC ACADEMIC RESPONSE
This message indicates that the student was unable to participate in the assessment based on the student’s disability resulting in the inability to make an authentic academic response.
EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
This message indicates that the student could not be rated due to extenuating circumstances.
NO RATING AVAILABLE
This message indicates that no rating information is available.
G. Composite Rating
The composite rating each student achieved this year and last year is shown.
H. Process Number
The process number found in the lower-right corner of the report is a unique number assigned to the report by the testing contractor for each administration. Refer to this number if questions arise about the report.
Summary Reports
A summary report is available for each grade and domain assessed at each campus and in each district. The summary reports contain aggregate information for every student for whom an assessment record was submitted.
A. Identification Information
The top of the report contains identification information for the campus or district. The grade, report date, and date of testing are also indicated.
B. Administration Summary
This section of the report lists the number and percentage of students who were rated, the number and percentage of students who were not rated due to extenuating circumstances, medical exception, or no authentic academic response, and the total number of students.
C. Demographic Groups and Program Categories
Demographic groups and program categories are listed on the left side of this section. Results for students for whom no demographic or program information was available are included in the “No Information Provided” categories.
D. Number of Students Rated
The number of students rated is provided for each demographic group and program category listed for each domain.
E. Proficiency Levels
The percentages of students who achieved the awareness, imitation, early independence, developing independence, and basic fluency proficiency levels are displayed for each demographic group and program category listed for each domain.
F. Composite Rating Administration Summary
This section of the report lists the number and percentage of students who received a composite rating, the number and percentage of students who did not receive a composite rating, and the total number of students.
G. Composite Rating—Number of Students Rated
The number of students who received a composite rating is provided for each demographic group and program category listed.
H. Percentage of Students Receiving Each Proficiency Rating
The percentages of students who received a composite proficiency rating of awareness, imitation, early independence, developing independence, and basic fluency are displayed for each demographic group and program category listed.
I. Average Composite Score
The average composite score is displayed for each demographic group and program category listed. The composite score ranges from 1 (ratings of awareness in all domains) to 5 (ratings of basic fluency in all domains).
J. Yearly Progress
The number and percentage of students who progressed at least one proficiency level is displayed for each demographic group and program category listed.
K. Process Number
The process number found in the lower-right corner of the report is a unique number assigned to the report by the testing contractor for each administration. Refer to this number if questions arise about the report.