Texas: An Explanation of TASS

An Explanation of Texas Assessment of Academic Skills

What is the TLI?

TLI stands for Texas Learning Index. It is your child’s score on the TAAS reading and mathematics tests. To pass these tests, your child must achieve a TLI of at least 70. To see if your child passed the reading test, for example, look in the READING section of your child’s Confidential Student Report (CSR) where it says TEST RESULTS. A sample CSR is shown inside this brochure. In the sample CSR, it says “Texas Learning Index: 4-70.” The “4” is for 4th grade, and the “70” is the TLI (score).

What can the TLI tell me about my child’s progress?

With the TLI it is possible to compare your child’s performance on the TAAS test from year to year. Say, for example, that a child’s
TLI on the 3rd grade reading test was 3-75, and then on the 4th grade reading test it was 4-75. The fact that the TLI of 75 was the
same both years indicates that the child made one year of academic growth in one year’s time. In another example, let’s say a child’s TLI on the mathematics test was 3-60 in the 3rd grade and 4-68 in the 4th grade. Although this child did not pass the mathematics test in either year, the increase from 60 to 68 in the TLI indicates that he or she made more than one year’s academic growth and, therefore, is improving.

Do all TAAS tests have TLIs?

No. The TLI is only used for the TAAS reading and mathematics tests. The writing, science, social studies, and Spanishversion
tests use a “scale score,” where 1500 or above is passing.

A – Identification Information

The information at the top of the report includes your child’s name, date of birth, and grade level in school.

B – Objectives Listed by Subject Area

Test objectives representing the knowledge and skill areas tested are listed in abbreviated form on the left side of the page.

C – Written Composition Score

The writing test given to 4th and 8th graders is in two parts. On one part your child must answer multiple-choice questions, and on the other part, your child must write a composition. The number in this section indicates your child’s score on the composition. The highest score that can be made on the composition is a 4, and the lowest is a 1. A student could also get a 0 if the composition is not scorable. A score of 2 is a passing score for the composition. Scoring a 3 or a 4 means the student showed “mastery” on the written composition part of the test. Unsuccessful (failing) compositions receive either a 1 or a 0. Analytic information, or the reason(s) why a written composition was unsuccessful, will appear in this section in the case of an unsuccessful score.

D – Objective Mastery and Total Objectives

Mastered

Yes means your child showed mastery of the particular skill area tested. The number of questions that your child must answer
correctly to master a skill area is shown at the bottom of the Confidential Student Report. It is possible for a student to pass the TAAS test without mastering all of the skill areas (objectives). The total number of objectives your child mastered on a particular subject area test is shown at the bottom of each section. On the writing test, this number is for the multiple-choice part only.