1. TELPAS COORDINATOR TRAINING

2. Test Security and Confidential Integrity

3. Definitions
Test Security involves accounting for all secure materials before, during, and after each test administration. It includes discarding scratch paper if allowed.
Confidentiality involves protecting the contents of all tests items and student answers.

4. Test Security and Confidentiality Requirements
All testing personnel must be trained and sign an oath before handling secure test materials.
All tests must be administered in strict accordance with the manuals.
No person my view, reveal, or discuss the contents of a test or answer document unless specifically instructed to do so by the procedures in the test administrator manual.

5. Test Security and Confidentiality Requirements
No person may answer verbally or nonverbally any question that relates to the contents of a test before, during, or after a test administration.
No person my review or discuss student responses during or after testing unless specifically authorized to do so by the procedures in the TA manuals.

6. Test Security and Confidentiality Requirements
No person may change any response or instruct a student to do so.
Only students can erase stray marks on their answer documents or in their scorable test booklets or change their answers on their computer screen.
Secure materials must be securely locked up when not in use.
Districts must actively monitor testing sessions and require test administrators to actively monitor during testing.

7. What Is Active Monitoring?
Watching students during testing. The focus of the teacher’s attention is on the students and not elsewhere.
Walking around to better observe what students are doing. (Are students; working on correct section of test, marking answers on the answer document, not cheating, not using cell phones, not talking or communicating with other students, etc.?)

8. What is NOT Active Monitoring?
Working on the computer or doing .
Reading a book, magazine, or newspaper.
Grading papers or doing lesson planning.
Leaving the room without a trained substitute test administrator in the room.
Leaving students unattended during lunch or breaks.
Reading the test over a student’s shoulder.
Checking student responses during testing.

9. Seating Chart Rule
Seating Charts are required for all test administrations. Seating Charts must include:
Location of testing session( Campus, room) and a brief description of the testing area (classroom, library, broom closet, etc.)
The assessment being given including grade and subject.
The first and last names of the test administrator(s).
The first and last names of each student and where they were seated for testing.
If students are re-grouped during testing an additional seating chart will be needed for the new group. The new seating chart should indicate the time students were regrouped.

10. Departures from Test Administration Procedures
Incidents resulting in a deviation from documented testing procedures are defined as testing irregularities.
Each person participating in the testing program is responsible for reporting immediately to the district testing coordinator any violation or suspected violation of test security or confidentiality, including all testing irregularities.
TEA classifies testing irregularities by type and usually only requires corrective action plans for the irregularities that are relatively minor in nature.

11. Serious Testing Irregularities
Testing irregularities that constitute a disclosure of secure testing materials or altering student results either directly or indirectly are considered serious and may result in actions being taken against a teaching certificate or the filing of criminal charges for tampering.
Examples include;
Viewing the test before, during, or after testing unless authorized by the testing procedures.
Scoring student tests.
Discussing secure test content or student responses.
Copying secure testing materials without permission by TEA
Directly or Indirectly assisting students during testing.
Tampering with student responses on answer documents.

12. TELPAS There is just one big change to TELPAS this year.
TELPAS Reading will be 100% online this year across the state.
There will be no paper TELPAS answer documents.
Holistic ratings will be submitted online.
Taking a paper test requires an arf.

13. TELPAS Overview
TELPAS has two components:
Holistic Ratings (Writing, Listening, and Speaking for grades K-12 and Reading for K-1.)
TELPAS Reading (A English reading proficiency test for grades 2-12 administered online.)
All students classified as current LEP must participate in TELPAS including parent denials.
TELPAS raters must have the student in class and hold a valid certificate. (No paraprofessionals can serve as TELPAS raters)
TELPAS raters must have been appropriately trained (level one and/or two) and pass a qualifying activity in order to serve as a rater.
Proficiency ratings are the same as last year: beginning, intermediate, advanced, and advanced high.

14. TELPAS Overview continued
Test Security is the same as TAKS.
There are three oaths in this program. If you serve in multiple roles you will need to sign an oath for each role.
TELPAS Reading Test Administrator Oath
TELPAS Holistic Rater Oath
TELPAS Writing Collection Verifier Oath

15. LCISD TELPAS Process
Each campus will designate a single person to handle the online data entry for holistic ratings, rater info, and corrections to demographic data including years in US schools.
The district testing coordinator will set up user accounts for the designated individual.
The district testing coordinator will the advance precoding roster to the campus coordinator to verify the precoding data. Make corrections to the precoding roster and use the roster to make corrections to the online system data.

16. LCISD TELPAS Process
Teachers will collect appropriate writing samples and assemble the writing collections and place them behind a TELPAS cover sheet.
The TELPAS rater will score the holistic ratings for listening, speaking, and writing (reading for K-1) and complete the TELPAS Student Rating Roster. Circle the rater information A & B that is correct for the students on the roster, sign and date the roster.
Writing holistic ratings must be based upon the writing collection only. Classroom observations may not be used in determining the writing performance level rating.
TELPAS raters will turn in their completed and signed rating rosters to the campus testing coordinator.

17. LCISD TELPAS Process
The campus designee will then use the roster to enter the data into the online testing system.
The campus coordinator will be responsible to get the principal to sign each rating roster. Their signature says the ratings have been made strictly in accordance with the TELPAS manual and training.
The campus testing coordinator will then file the TELPAS Student Rating Rosters for the required five years on the campus.
TELPAS reading will be administered to grades 2-12 LEP students using the online system.
The Campus testing coordinator will notify the district testing coordinator via when the campus has completed all TELPAS activities.

18. TELPAS Rater/Verifier Training
Online courses are used to provide standardized TELPAS rater training. There are 5 online courses:
Level 1 Online Training Course for Grades 2–12 (4-5 hours)
Level 2 Online Refresher Course for Grades 2–12 (2-3 hours)
Level 1 Online Training Course for K–1 (4 hours)
Level 2 Online Refresher Course for K–1 (2 hours)
Assembling and Verifying Grades 2–12 Writing Collections (1 hour)
There is an online qualifying activity that raters do after the level 2 training. Certificates that show the rater is qualified to rate students on TELPAS must retained. If writer raters are not qualified, be sure a qualified rater is checking them.
Courtney Hill, District Bilingual/ESL Administrator will take care of coordinating the training for all campus TELPAS raters and verifiers this year. .

19. TELPAS Writing Collections
The writing collection (grades 2-12) must include-
Writing done after February 2nd, 2009.
At least 5 writing samples that must include at least 1 narrative writing sample about a past event and 2 writing samples from mathematics, science, or social studies.
The student’s name and date at the top.
No papers showing teacher corrections.
No worksheets, short-answer response formats, or TAKS written compositions are allowed.
English should be the primary language of the writing samples.
Collection must be placed under a cover sheet with signatures as indicated on the cover sheet.

20. Writing Collection Verification
Campus test coordinators are responsible for designating a person or persons to review and verify that writing collections meet the guidelines required by TEA.
The person who verifies the writing collections cannot be a TELPAS rater or a paraprofessional.
There is a separate Writing Collection Verification Checklist that requires the initials of the TELPAS rater that collected the sample and the signature of the TELPAS Writing Verifier.
The verifier must sign a verifier security oath.
Verification checklist forms must be retained on campus for five years.

21. TELPAS Reading Accommodations
With the exception of dyslexia bundled accommodations and braille tests, the same testing accommodations available for TAKS reading are available for students taking the TELPAS reading test.

22. TELPAS Reading Make Ups
All students must be assessed within the assessment window.
If a student is absent the day you have them scheduled to take TELPAS reading then move them to another session that will test later within the TELPAS assessment window.
Make an effort to test every eligible student within the TELPAS assessment window.

23. Validity and Reliability of TELPAS
TEA requires districts to implement one or more rating support and verification procedures for every campus with TELPAS-rated students.
TEA will conduct an audit process for selected districts and campuses again this year.
L.C.I.S.D. has developed a TELPAS validity and reliability plan that meets TEA requirements.
Keep documentation when you use a rater who is not qualified.

24. ///////////////////////////////LCISD TELPAS Validity and Reliability Procedures
For all language domains – grades K-12: Raters will collaborate with other teachers of the students in determining the student’s rating. One collaborator will initial the TELPAS Rating roster for each child.
For writing – grades 2-12:
10% of all writing collections will be randomly pulled for assembly verification by the campus test coordinator or their designee.
If campuses can’t resolve the score for a writing collection, they are to consult with their campus tract coordinator.

25. Suggested TELPAS Calendar - 2009
TELPAS Calendar of Events
Rater qualification – Feb 2 - Mar 13, 2009
Collect writing samples – Feb 2 – Mar 13, 2009
Online TELPAS Test Training – Feb 24, 1:30 Board Room
Spring Break – March 16-22, 2009
Holistic ratings – Mar 23 – Apr 3, 2009
Online Reading testing – Mar 9 – Apr 3, 2009
The state TELPAS window is March 9 – April 10

26. Frequently Asked Questions
TEA develops a Frequently Asked Questions document each year and posts it on their TEA web site.
The FAQ contains the answers to most questions that you will asked by your campus staff about state testing. You should keep a copy for ready reference.
If you have questions that you cannot find answers to in the manuals or in the FAQ document then call or the district testing coordinator. If I do not know the answer, I will get an answer for you.

27. Remember to sign your campus test coordinator security oaths and check off the first section if TELPAS is the only test you are responsible for.