Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
The ELPS, Texas’s English Language Proficiency Standards, define the English that Emergent Bilingual students must learn and that teachers in every subject are required to address. They are the Texas counterpart to the WIDA standards most other states use, and they underpin the TELPAS assessment. This guide explains what the ELPS are, how they shape instruction, and the major revision taking effect in 2026-2027.
Table of contents
Executive Summary
The English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) are Texas’s standards for the English language development of Emergent Bilingual students. They require teachers in all content areas, not just ESL or bilingual classes, to integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing language objectives into instruction. The ELPS define proficiency level descriptors used by TELPAS. A revised ELPS, adopted by the State Board of Education in 2024, moves from four proficiency levels to five and takes effect in classrooms in 2026-2027, with transition-year assessments.
Key Takeaways
- The ELPS are Texas’s English language proficiency standards for Emergent Bilinguals.
- They apply across all subjects, not only language classes.
- They define the proficiency level descriptors TELPAS uses.
- They cover four domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
- Revised ELPS take effect 2026-2027, moving from four to five levels.
What Are the ELPS?
The ELPS are part of the Texas Administrative Code and require districts to provide English language development instruction so that Emergent Bilinguals can learn English while accessing grade-level content. They include cross-curricular learning strategies and proficiency expectations in the four domains. Crucially, the ELPS are the responsibility of all teachers, making English language development a shared, schoolwide duty.
Quick answer: the ELPS are the Texas standards that define the English Emergent Bilinguals must learn and require every teacher to integrate language development into instruction.
How the ELPS Shape Instruction
- Identify the language demands. Teachers determine the listening, speaking, reading, and writing demands of each lesson.
- Set language objectives. Alongside content objectives, lessons include ELPS-based language objectives.
- Differentiate by level. Instruction is matched to students’ proficiency levels.
- Build academic language. Students practice producing academic English across subjects.
The ELPS and TELPAS
The ELPS and TELPAS are two sides of the same system: the ELPS define proficiency, and TELPAS measures it. The proficiency level descriptors in the ELPS are what TELPAS uses to rate students. For how that measurement works, see TELPAS scoring explained and what is TELPAS.
The 2026-2027 ELPS Revision
In 2024, the State Board of Education adopted revised ELPS. The new standards move from four proficiency levels to five and take effect in classrooms in the 2026-2027 school year, with transition-year assessments in 2026-2027 and 2027-2028. Until the transition is complete, the current four-level descriptors remain in use for assessment. District leaders should begin aligning curriculum, professional development, and data systems to the five-level model now.
District Benchmark
Translate it. In a Texas district serving 2,000 Emergent Bilinguals across dozens of content teachers, the ELPS mean every one of those teachers shares responsibility for language development. The constraint is capacity: asking each teacher to give every EB enough individual speaking and writing practice exceeds what staffing allows. The ELPS define the expectation; the gap is the practice volume needed to meet it.
The Capacity Limit Behind the ELPS
Meeting the ELPS for speaking runs into the Speaking Time Gap: the shortfall between the oral practice an Emergent Bilingual needs and what one teacher can provide across a full class.
The math: a teacher with 25 students in a 45-minute block has 1,125 student-minutes and can speak with one student at a time, leaving each EB only minutes of individual practice per day. The ELPS ask every teacher to build oral language, but the arithmetic caps how much each student gets. Closing the gap means adding practice that scales beyond the teacher.
Common Mistakes District Leaders Make
- Treating the ELPS as ESL-only. They apply to all teachers and subjects.
- Writing content objectives without language objectives. The ELPS require both.
- Ignoring the 2026-2027 revision. Not preparing for five levels.
- Setting expectations without capacity. Asking for oral practice the schedule cannot provide.
Recommended Actions
Immediate (this month): Confirm all teachers, not just EL staff, are using the ELPS in lesson planning.
Medium-term (this year): Plan curriculum and PD for the 2026-2027 five-level ELPS.
Long-term (strategy): Resource individual speaking and language practice so the ELPS expectations are achievable at scale.
Questions District Leaders Should Ask
- Are all our teachers using the ELPS, or only EL specialists?
- Do lessons include ELPS language objectives, not just content?
- Are we ready for the five-level ELPS in 2026-2027?
- Do students get enough oral practice to meet the standards?
The Structure of the ELPS: Strategies, Domains, and Descriptors
The ELPS are not a single list but a document with distinct parts, and knowing them helps a teacher use the standards well. The first part is a set of cross-curricular second language acquisition learning strategies, techniques such as using prior knowledge, monitoring one’s own understanding, and asking for help, that apply in any subject. The second part is the proficiency standards for each of the four domains, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, which describe what students should be able to do as their English develops. The third part is the proficiency level descriptors (PLDs), which define what Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High English looks like in each domain. The PLDs do double duty: teachers use them to understand where a student is and plan the next step, and TELPAS uses them as the rating scale, which is why the ELPS and the assessment stay tightly aligned.
Preparing for the Five-Level ELPS
The revision adopted in 2024 replaces the four proficiency levels with five, giving a more granular picture of a student’s development, and it takes effect in classrooms in 2026-2027 with transition-year assessments. For district leaders, the practical work is not waiting for the switch but preparing for it: update curriculum documents and lesson templates that reference proficiency levels, retrain staff on the new descriptors so that placement and instruction stay consistent, and confirm that data and reporting systems can handle five levels rather than four. Because the current four-level descriptors remain in use for assessment during the transition, districts will briefly operate with both models in view, which makes clear internal guidance especially important. Treating the change as a multi-year rollout, rather than a one-time update, is what keeps instruction steady while the standards shift underneath it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the ELPS?
The ELPS (English Language Proficiency Standards) are the Texas standards that define the English language development of Emergent Bilingual students across listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and require all teachers to integrate language instruction into their subjects.
Who is responsible for the ELPS?
All teachers, not just ESL or bilingual staff. The ELPS make English language development a shared, cross-curricular responsibility.
How do the ELPS relate to TELPAS?
The ELPS define proficiency and its level descriptors; TELPAS measures students against them. They are two parts of the same Texas system.
What is changing with the ELPS?
A revised ELPS adopted in 2024 moves from four proficiency levels to five, effective in classrooms in 2026-2027 with transition-year assessments. The current four-level descriptors remain in use until then.
What are the parts of the ELPS?
The ELPS include cross-curricular second language acquisition learning strategies, proficiency standards for listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and proficiency level descriptors that define Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High English. TELPAS uses the same descriptors as its rating scale.
What are the ELPS proficiency level descriptors?
The proficiency level descriptors (PLDs) describe what a student can do with English at each proficiency level in each domain. Teachers use them to place students and plan instruction, and TELPAS uses them to assign ratings.
How should districts prepare for the five-level ELPS?
Update curriculum and lesson templates that reference proficiency levels, retrain staff on the new five-level descriptors, and confirm data systems can handle five levels. The change takes effect in 2026-2027 with transition-year assessments, so preparation should start now.
Related Resources
- Emergent Bilingual Students
- English Learners in Texas
- What Is TELPAS?
- TELPAS Scoring Explained
- Texas English Learner Requirements
- Complete Guide to WIDA
Conclusion
The ELPS are the foundation of how Texas develops and measures Emergent Bilinguals’ English: cross-curricular standards that every teacher must address, and the basis for TELPAS. With the move to five levels in 2026-2027, district leaders should align now. And because the ELPS ask every teacher to build oral language that the schedule cannot fully supply, resourcing individual practice at scale is what makes the standards achievable.
Sources: Texas Education Agency, txel.org (ELPS); TEA, ELPS-TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors.
Making a Shared Standard Workable for Every Teacher
The ELPS put a language objective in every classroom, which means the algebra teacher and the biology teacher are now responsible for oral language too. Most will say they believe in it and still struggle to give a room full of Emergent Bilinguals time to actually speak.
The obstacle is not buy-in, it is arithmetic. A standard can ask every teacher to build academic English, but it cannot add minutes to the period or hands to the room.
So districts are looking for ways to make the expectation practical, especially with the five-level model arriving in 2026-2027. Telo AI is one example some teachers use to extend oral practice, in English plus Spanish and French for bilingual settings.
See how districts make cross-curricular language practice workable: https://mytelo.ai/how-telo-works/
A standard is only as strong as a teacher’s ability to meet it on a normal day. The ELPS set the bar high on purpose, and the districts that reach it are the ones that found a way to give every student the practice the standard assumes.