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TELPAS speaking is assessed in grades 2-12 through an online listening and speaking test, in which students record spoken answers to picture-, passage- and text-based prompts, with 45 seconds for simple prompts and 90 seconds for open-ended ones. Each answer is scored on TEA’s 2-point or 4-point speaking rubric; for grades 4-12, an automated scoring engine scores every response first and at least 25 percent go to trained human scorers. In kindergarten and grade 1, teachers rate speaking holistically from classroom observation. This guide covers the prompt types, the rubrics, how scores become ratings, and how students practice.
Table of contents
Executive Summary
Speaking carries more points than listening on the grades 2-12 test (36 against 27 in TEA’s blueprint), and more than half of them sit in the category that asks students to share opinions and analyze information. The rubrics reward the same thing at every step: longer, more connected, more academic answers. A student who answers in one short sentence caps the score, whatever they understood.
2026-2027 is the first of two transition years. The revised ELPS reach classrooms, while TELPAS assesses only the parts of the 2024 standards that overlap with the 2007 ELPS. The speaking test format and rubrics are the same documents TEA lists today.
Key Takeaways
- Grades 2-12: an online listening and speaking test, with recorded answers.
- Response time: 45 seconds for simple prompts, 90 seconds for open-ended prompts; students can listen back and re-record.
- Two rubrics: 2 points for short tasks, 4 points for extended ones.
- Scoring: automated engine plus human scorers for grades 4-12; at least 25 percent of responses go to humans.
- K-1: holistic ratings by trained teachers, from classroom observation.
- What moves the score: complete, extended, connected answers.
How the TELPAS Speaking Test Works
| Grades 2-12 | Kindergarten and grade 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Online test combining listening and speaking, taken on a different day from reading and writing | Holistic rating from classroom observation |
| How students answer | Record spoken responses with a headset and microphone; one headset per student | No test session; the teacher observes everyday classroom speaking |
| Time per answer | 45 seconds (simple prompts) or 90 seconds (open-ended prompts) | Not applicable |
| Re-recording | Students can listen back, delete and re-record | Not applicable |
| Scoring | 2-point and 4-point rubrics; hybrid automated and human scoring for grades 4-12 | Trained raters use the proficiency level descriptors |
TEA’s test administrator manual recommends scheduling three to four hours in total for TELPAS sessions, with students expected to finish in about three hours across both tests. Dates for 2027 are in the TELPAS testing window guide.
TELPAS Speaking Prompts: The Question Types
Quick answer: TELPAS speaking prompts ask students to describe, explain, retell, compare and give opinions, from a picture, a short passage or a text. TEA tells students to “speak as much as they can when responding to speaking prompts.”
The TELPAS educator guide gives these examples of what students are asked to do:
- Describe a picture, with at least three pieces of information.
- Give directions.
- Explain a process.
- Tell a story from a sequence of pictures.
- Compare and contrast two images.
TEA’s grades 2-12 blueprint groups the speaking points into two reporting categories:
| Speaking reporting category | Points | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Provide and summarize information | 16 | Describe, retell, give directions, explain a process |
| Share opinions and analyze information | 20 | Take a position, compare, explain why |
Real prompts for each grade cluster (2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12) are in TEA’s released tests, listed in our TELPAS practice test guide.
The TELPAS Speaking Rubrics
Each answer is scored on TEA’s 2-point rubric or 4-point rubric, depending on the prompt. The educator guide explains that a short task gives the student 45 seconds and “may earn a maximum of two points,” while extended responses earn up to four.
| Rubric and score | What the response looks like (TEA descriptors, abridged) |
|---|---|
| 2-point rubric: 1 | Silent, single words or short phrases, or mostly in another language |
| 2-point rubric: 2 | Simple original sentences, mostly present tense, basic vocabulary |
| 4-point rubric: 1 | Silent, or single words and short phrases |
| 4-point rubric: 2 | High-frequency words, mostly simple present-tense sentences |
| 4-point rubric: 3 | Common abstract and academic vocabulary, mostly correct verb tenses |
| 4-point rubric: 4 | Complex sentences and grammar nearly comparable to native-speaking peers |
Every step up the scale is a step toward longer, more complex, more academic language. That is the practical target of speaking instruction.
How TELPAS Speaking Is Scored
TEA’s speaking and writing scoring process describes a hybrid model for grades 4-12: an automated scoring engine scores every response first, at least 25 percent of responses in each grade go to trained human scorers, and any response the engine flags as unscorable or low confidence is routed to a human.
The rubric points add up to a raw score, which TEA converts to a scale score and a proficiency rating. For example, TEA’s 2025 conversion table for grades 4-5 speaking sets these ranges:
| Rating | Scale score, grades 4-5 speaking (2025) |
|---|---|
| Beginning | 1359-1466 |
| Intermediate | 1467-1524 |
| Advanced | 1525-1599 |
| Advanced High | 1600-1721 |
Cut scores differ by grade cluster and domain, and TEA publishes a conversion table for each. How the four domain ratings combine into the composite, with each domain counting equally, is in TELPAS scores explained.
How to Practice TELPAS Speaking
- Teach the extended answer all year. Every speaking routine asks for a full sentence, then a reason or a detail. It is exactly what moves a response from 2 to 3 on the 4-point rubric.
- Rehearse both categories with class content. Provide and summarize: retell a text, describe a process, report what a video showed. Share opinions and analyze: take a position, compare two options, explain why.
- Practice the five prompt types. Describe a picture with at least three details, give directions, explain a process, tell a story from pictures, compare two images.
- Use the time. A student who stops after one sentence leaves most of a 90-second window unused. Practicing with a timer teaches students to keep going.
- Run one session on the Practice Test Site two to four weeks before the window, so every student records, plays back and re-records once, and headset problems surface early.
Format practice takes one session. The volume of extended spoken answers a student produces takes the whole year, and that is where most classrooms fall short.
Kindergarten and Grade 1: Holistic Speaking Ratings
In kindergarten and grade 1, TELPAS is a holistically rated observational assessment in all four domains. Trained teachers rate each student’s speaking from everyday classroom performance against the proficiency level descriptors, after completing TEA’s rater training and calibration, covered in TELPAS calibration.
For 2026-2027 and 2027-2028, TEA publishes “eligible” K-1 descriptors that use the five new level names (Pre-Production, Beginning, Intermediate, High Intermediate, Advanced). Only the 2024 descriptors that overlap with the 2007 ELPS may be used; text crossed out in TEA’s document is not eligible during those two years. The descriptors themselves are in our guide to the TELPAS proficiency level descriptors.
What Changes in 2026-2027
The revised ELPS apply in classrooms from 2026-2027. TELPAS follows two transition years: grades 2-12 take online tests built on a transition-year blueprint and assessed curriculum, and TEA states that “during the transition years, the TELPAS assessments will assess only the 2024 ELPS that overlap with the 2007 ELPS.” The full timeline is in ELPS explained.
District Benchmark: What 90 Seconds Requires
The longest TELPAS speaking prompts give a student 90 seconds. To fill them with connected, academic speech, a student needs to have done it many times before. Take a class of 25 in a 50-minute period: if the teacher gives every student one 90-second extended answer, the class spends almost 40 minutes on it, with 24 students listening each time. Most classrooms can offer that a few times a year, not a few times a week.
That is why speaking ratings move slowest. The test measures a kind of talk that the ordinary timetable rarely produces.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the practice test as preparation. It teaches the platform, not the language.
- Accepting one-sentence answers in class. The rubric caps them.
- Practicing only descriptions. Opinion and analysis carry 20 of the 36 speaking points.
- Letting students stop early. Unused seconds are lost evidence.
- Testing headsets on the day.
Recommended Actions
Immediate (this month): Share the 2-point and 4-point rubrics with every teacher of Emergent Bilinguals and agree on what an extended answer sounds like.
Medium-term (this year): Build a daily routine in which each student gives at least one extended spoken answer.
Long-term (strategy): Track speaking ratings by grade cluster and fund individual speaking practice where they stall.
Questions District Leaders Should Ask
- How many extended spoken answers does each Emergent Bilingual give per week?
- Do teachers know the difference between a 2 and a 3 on the 4-point rubric?
- Where do our speaking ratings stall, and in which grade clusters?
- Has every student recorded on the Practice Test Site before the window?
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the TELPAS speaking test work?
In grades 2-12, students take an online listening and speaking test and record answers to picture-, passage- and text-based prompts, with 45 seconds for simple prompts and 90 seconds for open-ended ones. In K-1, teachers rate speaking holistically.
What are TELPAS speaking prompts like?
Students describe a picture with at least three details, give directions, explain a process, tell a story from a sequence of pictures, compare two images, and give and explain opinions.
What is the TELPAS speaking rubric?
TEA uses a 2-point rubric for short tasks and a 4-point rubric for extended ones. The top score on the 4-point rubric describes complex sentences and grammar nearly comparable to native-speaking peers.
Is TELPAS speaking scored by a computer?
Partly. For grades 4-12, an automated engine scores every response first, at least 25 percent of responses in each grade go to trained human scorers, and flagged responses are routed to humans.
Can students re-record their TELPAS speaking answers?
Yes. TEA’s educator guide says students can listen back to their responses and delete and re-record them.
How can students practice for TELPAS speaking?
By giving extended, connected answers in class every day, practicing the five prompt types with a timer, and running one session on TEA’s Practice Test Site before the window.
Related Resources
- TELPAS Practice Test
- TELPAS Scores Explained
- TELPAS Writing Rubric
- TELPAS Explained
- ELPS Explained
- TELPAS Calibration
Conclusion
TELPAS speaking rewards one thing at every level: extended, connected, increasingly academic answers. The prompts, the 45- and 90-second windows and the 2- and 4-point rubrics all point the same way. Districts that make extended speaking a daily routine, rather than a February event, see it in the ratings.
Sources: TEA, 2025-2026 TELPAS Educator Guide; TEA, 2025-2026 TELPAS Test Administrator Manual; TEA, Grades 2-12 Listening and Speaking Blueprint; TEA, Speaking and Writing Scoring Process; TEA, TELPAS Resources; TEA, 2025 TELPAS Grades 4-5 Speaking Conversion Table; TEA, K-1 Eligible PLDs 2026-2028. Verified September 28, 2026.
The Rubric Rewards What the Classroom Rarely Produces
Read the 4-point rubric from bottom to top and it describes a student who has talked a lot: from single words, to simple sentences, to academic vocabulary, to complex grammar. None of those steps happens without hundreds of spoken attempts, each with someone responding.
In a class of twenty-five, those attempts are scarce. That shortfall is the Speaking Time Gap, and it is why speaking is so often the last domain to reach Advanced High.
Some Texas districts add speaking practice that does not wait for the teacher’s turn. Telo AI is one example: five-minute sessions three times a week that adapt to each student’s level and ask follow-up questions instead of accepting one-word answers, with progress reported on a dashboard mapped to the Texas ELPS. See how that works across a school year.
TELPAS measures the answer a student can give in 90 seconds. The year decides how many times they have practiced giving it.
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