How to Prepare for TELPAS: Practice and Tips by Domain

When thinking about how to prepare for TELPAS, start by being realistic. TELPAS measures language proficiency, and proficiency grows through use: conversation, reading, writing and listening, every day, in school and out of it. A few weeks of test practice will not move a student from Intermediate to Advanced High.

What preparation can do is remove the obstacles that have nothing to do with English. A student who has never recorded their voice on a computer may freeze on the first speaking item. A student who types with one finger may write less than they could. A student who has never seen a drag-and-drop question may lose time working out what to do. Each of those costs points that the student's English deserved. Practice that targets those problems is time well spent.

In kindergarten and grade 1 there is no online test; teachers rate students from classroom observation. This guide is mostly about grades 2–12. The guide to TELPAS in kindergarten and first grade covers the younger children.

TEA's official practice tests, at txpt.cambiumtds.com/student, are the single most useful preparation resource, and they are free. They run in the same testing interface students use on test day: the same buttons, the same audio player, the same recording screen for speaking, the same text box for writing.

Go through them with your child or your class at least once before the spring window. The aim is not a score. It is that on test day the screens look familiar, the student knows how to replay directions, how to record and how to move between questions.

TEA also publishes TELPAS released test questions with answer keys, and scoring guides for speaking and writing that show real student responses at each score point. For teachers, those scoring guides are the clearest picture available of what each rubric level actually sounds and looks like.

The TELPAS practice tests on this site are independent and original, written to match the published test design. It adds more questions and explanations. It does not replace the official practice tests, because it cannot reproduce the real interface.

The listening part of the TELPAS listening and speaking test plays short spoken directions and short videos of stories and informational passages. Questions are multiple choice or ask the student to click on a picture. On the real test, the student does not see a transcript.

Good practice is simple and can happen in any language routine at home or school:

• Listen to a short recording or read-aloud, then stop and ask: what was it mostly about? What happened first, and then?
• Give short spoken directions in English and have the student follow them. The picture items on the test work this way.
• After a short story in a show or video, ask why a character did something, or what they will probably do next. Inference questions are part of the test.
• If you use the listening practice on this site, such as TELPAS listening practice for grade 3, try answering before opening the transcript, as on the real test, and use the transcript afterwards to check what was missed.

Speaking is the domain where practice with the format makes the biggest difference. Students record their answers on the computer, with 45 or 90 seconds per item depending on the prompt. The directions say to tell as much as you can, and they mean it: the TELPAS speaking rubric rewards complete, detailed answers.

The commonest problem is a correct but tiny answer. Asked to describe a picture, a student says 'A park.' That answers the question and shows very little English. 'There are three kids in a park. One is on the swing and two are playing soccer. It looks like it might rain soon because the sky is dark' shows far more.

Practice like this:

• Describe pictures aloud: who is there, what they are doing, where, and what might happen next.
• Retell a short video or story in order, using first, then, after that and finally.
• Give an opinion with reasons: I think... because... Another reason is...
• Compare two pictures: how they are the same and how they are different.
• Record the answer on a phone or computer and play it back. Hearing themselves helps students notice when they stopped too early.
• Practice keeping going after a mistake. A quick self-correction and carrying on is much better than stopping.

Reading passages include stories and informational texts, from short notices up to longer academic passages in the older clusters. Questions ask what words mean in context, what the text says, and what a reader can infer or conclude.

The most useful habit to build is going back to the text. Students who answer from memory make avoidable mistakes; students who check the passage for the sentence that supports their answer make fewer.

Read widely in English, and include nonfiction: science, history, how-to texts, news written for young readers. Talk about unfamiliar words and how the sentence around them gives a clue to meaning. And keep reading in the home language too. Reading skills and background knowledge carry over between languages.

For extra practice at the right level, the reading sets on this site, such as TELPAS reading practice for grades 8–9, give original passages with an explanation for each answer.

Writing has been part of the online reading and writing test since spring 2023. There are three written responses and six short editing questions. The responses are typed, which makes keyboard practice a genuine part of preparation.

A student who can only type a few words a minute will write less than they can say, and length and completeness matter in the rubrics. Ten minutes of typing practice a few times a week over a couple of months makes a real difference, especially for younger students.

For the responses themselves, practice answering every part of a prompt in full sentences, with specific details and a range of words. For the editing questions, practice spotting and fixing errors in verb tense, subject-verb agreement, plurals and spelling. One editing format asks the student to rewrite a whole sentence correctly, which takes practice to do carefully.

The TELPAS writing test guide describes the item types and rubrics in detail.

TELPAS offers accessibility features available to all students, and designated supports for students who need them. Some designated supports are approved locally and some need TEA approval. Braille is available for reading.

If your child uses supports in class, ask the school which ones apply on TELPAS, and make sure they are in place before the window opens. Try them in the official practice tests so the student knows how they work in the testing system.

Parents who do not speak English confidently sometimes worry they cannot help. You can. Talking with your child in your strongest language about stories, the news, how things work and why people do what they do builds the thinking and vocabulary that English then has something to attach to. A child who can explain cause and effect in Spanish, Vietnamese or Arabic only needs the English words for an idea they already understand.

Read together in any language. Ask your child to explain their school day to you in English, if you share some, and in your home language if you do not. Both help.

Keep test week ordinary. Regular sleep and breakfast matter more than any last-minute practice.

Tell your child, honestly, what TELPAS is: a way for the school to see how their English is growing. It is not a class grade and it does not decide whether they move up a grade. For speaking, remind them of the one instruction that matters most: tell as much as you can.