Bilingual/ESL

TELPAS OVERVIEW 

TELPAS is an assessment program for students in Texas public schools who are learning the English language. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) developed TELPAS to meet state and federal testing requirements. Texas assesses English language learners (ELLs) annually in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students learning the English language begin participating in TELPAS in kindergarten and stop participating when their language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) determines that they are proficient in the English language.

STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 1

For students in kindergarten through grade 1, TELPAS consists of holistically rated assessments in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The holistically rated assessments use classroom observations to measure students' progress in listening, speaking, and writing in English. 

STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-12

For students in grades 2-12, TELPAS has multiple-choice reading tests and holistically rated assessments in listening, speaking, and writing. TELPAS assesses the progress that students are making in learning English. The multiple-choice reading test is a one-day test that measures students' annual progress in learning to read in English. The assessments of listening, speaking, and writing are based on classroom observations and a collection of the student's writing.

RESOURCES

• TEA TELPAS Website

Career and Tech Ed (CATE)

Texas Workforce Commision

Curriculum & Instruction

Tom Bean Independent School District is constantly improving the curriculum and instruction for all students.  It is articulated from the 12th grade down to the Kindergarten students and coordinated within content areas and grade levels.  Tom Bean ISD utilizes the TEKS Resource System (TRS) Curriculum for the four core content areas.  TRS is a guaranteed and viable curriculum in which content area experts throughout the state write the curriculum and continually review all of its components to ensure quality and adherence to the state standards, The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

Key components of the TRS Curriculum are:

• A K-12 systemic model in the four core (English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies)
• Common language, structure, and process for curiculum delivery
• Aligned written, taught and tested curriculum
• Customizable instructural plans that allow district resources to be integrated into the system

Tom Bean ISD utilizes various state and/or locally adopted instructional materials and resources to provide the daily lessons that ensure the depth and rigor for higher-level learning.  Curricular areas outside of the four core are taught utilizing the Texas State Board of Education-adopted TEKS.

Eduphoria Aware is utilized by teachers on each campus to provide common assessments and generate data to evaluate the instruction. 

For additional information, contact Steve Goodman, Tom Bean ISD Curriculum Director

903-546-6076

steve.goodman@tombean-isd.org

  TEKS Resource System

  Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

Texas Education Code 29.121 defines a gifted and talented student as “a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential of performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment and who exhibits high performance capability in an intellectual, creative, or artistic area, possesses an unusual capacity for leadership, or excels in a specific academic field.” 

The Tom Bean Independent School District recognizes that the abilities, needs and interests of students vary greatly.  To that end, we expect that students will benefit from differentiated instructional programs that develop and challenge their unique capabilities within a framework of instructional activities that fosters creativity and productivity.  Furthermore, students who are nominated and subsequently assessed, who then meet all state and district criteria for services in the gifted and talented program, will have the opportunity to work within the district’s specialized gifted and talented curriculum.

Students in grades Kindergarten through grade 12 will have an array of learning opportunities such as, but not limited to:

• instructional and organizational patterns that enable students to work together as a group, to work with other students, and to work independently
• a continuum of learning experiences that leads to the development of advanced-level products and performances
• in-school, and when possible, out-of-school options relevant to the student’s area of strength that are available during the school year
• opportunities to accelerate in areas of strength

Tom Bean ISD GT Handbook

Homeschool

Information for Homeschool students living in the Tom Bean ISD attendance zone.

Court Ruling

Home schooling has been a legal alternative to public schooling since 1994. In the case of Leeper et al. v. Arlington ISD et al., the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision that children being taught at home are exempt from the compulsory attendance requirement to the same extent as students enrolled in private schools. Parents who choose to home school are required to follow a course of study that includes good citizenship. A public school district may ask parents to provide assurances in writing that they intend to home school their child.

Transferring to a Public School

The State of Texas does not award a diploma to students that are home schooled. Home-schooled students can enter public school at any time but should be aware that most districts have policies and procedures in place to assess the mastery level of courses that students in home schools have taken. The results of the assessment may be used for grade placement or award of credit or both. Students transferring from home schools should be afforded the same treatment as students transferring from unaccredited private schools. TEA recommendations on appropriate placement assessments are included in the Commissioner's Home School Policy Letter located on the TEA website.