TEA proposes first-year ELL students take STAAR instead of TELPAS

The Texas Education Agency is proposing that first-year English Language Learners (ELLs) take the standard reading and writing STAAR exams instead of TELPAS, though decisions about how the scores would be included in the state and federal accountability systems have not yet been made. The comment period for the proposed rules runs from Sept. 30 through Oct. 31, 2011.

TEA has published proposed commissioner's rules regarding the participation of ELLs in state assessments that would disallow the current practice of allowing first-year ELLs to take the state TELPAS to meet federal and state requirements for writing and English language arts assessments. Instead, the proposed rules would require these students to take the regular STAAR in reading and writing (there is a Spanish version of STAAR in grades 3-5). See specifically, proposed Section 101.1005(b) “An ELL shall participate in the Grades 3-8 and end-of-course assessments as required by the Texas Education Code (TEC), §39.023(c).”

Although TEA developed STAAR-L, a linguistically accommodated version of STAAR for grades 3-8 and end-of-course exams, it is only available for math, science and social studies, not for reading and writing. In the past, first-year ELLs who met state assessment exemption requirements were allowed to take the TELPAS (instead of TAKS). The proposed commissioner's rules no longer allow that practice. According to the rule summary, “The proposed new rule, which does not provide for exempting ELLs from STAAR assessments, would ensure that academic performance data are available to evaluate the achievement, progress, and needs of all ELL students. Proposed new §101.1005(h) would specify that separate policies for including the academic performance of ELLs in state and federal accountability measures will take into account the unique second language acquisition developmental needs of this student population.”

TCTA will submit comments to TEA with our concerns about the proposed rules, and we encourage members with an interest in this topic to also submit comments to rules@tea.state.tx.us by Oct. 31, 2011.