Background

Student Dashboard Metrics

English Language Learners (ELL) are an important and large segment of the school-aged population. The Texas English Language Profieciency Assessment System (TELPAS) metric indicates TELPAS scores and corresponding language levels for ELL students. Moreover, in focus groups with over 2,600 Texas educators, the TELPAS metric was repeatedly called out as necessary for classroom educators. 

Primary Metric

• TELPAS: student's score on TELPAS with historical comparisons.

User Interface

Dashboard Example

Figure 1 shows the TELPAS Language Assessment metric as seen on the student dashboard.

Figure 1  TSDS TELPAS Metric

Status Definition

This metric provides information on the level of English the student has learned. A student's TELPAS score is based on listening and reading scores, each of which is converted to a number between 1 and 4 (proficiency levels) and averaged. See Table 5 on this page for the exact calculation. For a definition of proficiency levels, see the Appendix on this page.

The Status and Status indicators are determined by the composite score. The student's composite score is displayed in the Value column.

Table 2 lists the Status indicators as seen on the student dashboard.

Table 2 Metric Indicators for TELPAS Metric

Metric Indicator			Trend Comparisons
Metric Name	Sub-metric Name	Metric Status Indicator	Compares:	To:
TELPAS	not applicable	Red (Proficiency Level) = If student proficiency is Beginner or Intermediate AND grade level is greater than 4 OR if the proficiency level is less than Advanced High AND the grade level is 10 or higher Green (Proficiency Level) = If the proficiency level is Beginner or Intermediate for grades PK-3 OR proficiency level is greater than Intermediate for grades 4 or higher OR proficiency level is Advanced High AND grade level is 10 or higher N/A = no score exists	Current year	Prior year

Trend Definition

The objective of trends is to increase the number of students advancing in their knowledge of English.

Table 3 Trends for TSDS TELPAS Metric 

Trend Indicators: Objective is to indicate TELPAS
	Up green	If the score for the current assessment is one or more levels greater (beginner to intermediate to advanced to advanced high) than previous assessment
	Unchanged	If the score for the current assessment is the same level as previous assessment
	Down red	If the score for the current assessment is one or more levels less (advanced high to advanced to intermediate to beginner) than the previous assessment

Periodicity

Best practice is to load the data for this metric at least annually prior to the beginning of the school year. Given that Pre-LAS, LAS, LAS-O and TELPAS are administered in the spring time, the data does not need to be uploaded monthly. 

Table 4 Recommended Load Characteristics for TSDS TELPAS

Recommended Load Characteristics
Calendar	Spring Semester
Frequency of data load	Spring
Latency	Yearly
Interchange schema	Interchange-StudentAssessment.xsd

Tooltips

The standard tool tips for the metric definition, column headers, and help functions display for this metric.

The following are tooltips specific to the metric:

• Green metric status: BEGINNER, INTER or ADVANCED
• Red metric status: BEGINNER or INTER
• 'More' indicates drill down views for this metric
• is ‘No change from the prior period'
• is ‘Getting worse from the prior period’
• is 'Getting better from the prior period'

Business Rules

This metric addresses the TELPAS examinations.

Students in grades K-12 may take the TELPAS.  The dashboards display a Metric Value (Composite Score) and a Status (Composite Rating) as outlined below:

Composite Rating (Numeric Value)	Composite Score
Not Available (0)	0.0
Beginning (1)	1.0-1.4
Intermediate (2)	1.5-2.4
Advanced (3)	2.5-3.4
Advanced High (4)	3.5-4.0

A Composite Rating of Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced will display red; a Composite Rating of Advanced High will display green.

Data Assumptions

• The student data is loaded into the DCD.
• Transfer students (late enrollment) who do not have complete transcripts are indicated.

Computed Values

Table 5 defines how values are calculated for this metric. The result of the calculation displays in the Value column on the student dashboard.

Table 5 Computed Values for TELPAS Metric

Metric Values
TELPAS	Composite Score, derived by converting the student's listening and reading ratings to a number from 1 (Beginning) to 4 (Advanced High) and taking the average of the two numbers.

Data Anomalies

Anomalies

• Metrics are sensitive to when and how often the data is loaded. Benchmarks are run after testing windows, grading periods, or other designated interval. 

• Late enrollees are likely to be missing previous assessment data.

• Loading of data from multiple administration dates.

• Dashboards only display current year information at the student level.

• Campus rollups include historical information from prior years when available. 

• The most recent exam displays in the classroom assessment detail view of benchmark performance. 

• Teachers viewing a section with more than one grade level or students that were tested on different TEKS will scroll to the right to see the next set of TEKS for students that took a different exam. 

Best practice is to use footnotes to address these anomalies.

Footnotes

Footnotes are used to provide additional information concerning the metric. Footnotes are sequential for the entire page. Therefore, a metric's footnote may not begin with the number 1.

The following footnotes appear below the metric:

• Students who have retaken the benchmark

• Transfer students with an incomplete transcript

Date of Refresh

Best practice is for the date of last data refresh to appear next the metric in the following format:

• (2/2011 - 5th grade) - for each subject area

Implementation Considerations

Apparent Non-Participation

 Assuming that the district has received and loaded timely test result data from Pre-LAS, LAS, LAS-O or TELPAS, students who did not participate in the test can be identified by the report comments. Table 6 explains the report comments.

Table 6 Report Comment Definitions for TELPAS Metric

Report Comment	Definition of Code
EC = EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES	Student could not be rated because of extenuating circumstances.
- - -  NO RATING / INFORMATION AVAILABLE	Student did not take TELPAS reading or comprehension, and composite information could not be determined because the appropriate language-area proficiency ratings were not available.
AB =  NOT TESTED—ABSENT	Student was absent during the TELPAS reading test.
X =  NOT TESTED—ARD DECISION	Student did not participate on the basis of special education needs as determined by his or her admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee in conjunction with the language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) and documented in the student's individualized education program.
O = NOT SCORED—OTHER	TELPAS reading score code was coded “OTHER” due to a test administration irregularity or illness during testing.

TELPAS Participation Expectation

Students may take the Pre-LAS, LAS and LAS-O from K through 2nd grade. The TELPAS examination may be taken from K through 12th grade. Proper application of the metric requires that the district or campus establish clear expectations for when students should take the examination, and if a student has not taken either assessment, determine at what point an intervention is in order.

Incomplete Transcripts and Missing Pre-LAS, LAS, LAS-O or TELPAS Scores

Transfer students may have incomplete transcripts that do not show prior Pre-LAS, LAS, LAS-O or TELPAS participation. Timely acquisition of a transfer student’s transcript is imperative to apply this and other metrics.

TELPAS and STAAR Considerations

In an effort to ensure a strong link between academic language proficiency as defined through TELPAS and academic achievement as defined by STAAR, the TELPAS exam may be adjusted.

Drill Downs

Drill Down View

The dashboards include the option to drill down and see more detail that is associated with a metric. There is one recommended drill down for this metric – a historical view of performance. Table 7 lists the drill down views that are recommended for this metric. 

Table 7 Drill Down View for TELPAS Metric

Historical

Graph of metric values over multiple time periods.

Description

The TELPAS detail drill down displays the historical examinations taken, associated comprehensive score and current year.

Dashboard Example

Figure 2 shows the TELPAS metric as seen on the student dashboard.

Figure 2  TSDS TELPAS Metric

Business Rules

The Historical Graph allows the user to see historical data across multiple timeframes.  As time passes, there are many bars to be displayed; therefore, the slider on the bottom allows the user to adjust the number of bars displayed as well as the time period shown.  The timeframes for this metric were chosen based on educator feedback.  

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