How Texas is replacing STAAR in schools
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch
Texas schools will ditch end-of-year standardized testing and instead administer three shorter assessments throughout the academic year.
Why it matters: Getting rid of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) was one of Gov. Greg Abbott's priorities for the last two special sessions.
- A new law's supporters say the measure will alleviate test anxiety among students and will give educators and parents better insight into students' learning throughout the year.
The latest: Abbott signed House Bill 8 into law this week. The measure calls for student assessments in the beginning, middle and end of the school year.
- Test results will be available within two business days and will factor into schools' and districts' annual ratings.
The big picture: Standardized tests in Texas have changed significantly since the days of scantrons, No. 2 pencils and intimidating testing environments.
- In the last 25 years, Texas has switched from TAAS to TAKS to the highly unpopular electronically administered STAAR.
The other side: The Texas American Federation of Teachers agreed with lawmakers that the state's testing system has "longstanding problems" but opposed HB 8, saying it will not do enough to address the issues.
- The organization of 66,000 members wanted lawmakers to broaden the scope of student success indicators to include participation in pre-K, extracurricular activities and career and technical education.
- "Lawmakers haven't gotten rid of high-stakes testing. They've just rebranded it," Texas AFT president Zeph Capo said in a statement.
What's next: The transition to the new format should be completed by the 2027-28 school year, the new law says.
- Meanwhile, the Texas Education Agency and school districts will need to conduct field testing of possible questions for the three assessments.