STAAR Test Gone? Texas House Approves Major Education Shift

According to KLTV, it has been decided that HB4 is nearing approval in the Texas House. This means the controversial STAAR test will be replaced with new forms of standardized testing for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Both the Senate and the House agreed that STAAR testing should be removed because lawmakers felt the test was too rigorous and consumed too much classroom time in preparation. I couldn’t agree more. For years, Texas parents have struggled to understand why the TAKS test played such a major role, not only in determining whether a child was promoted to the next grade but also in deciding if Texas seniors could graduate.

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What the STAAR Replacement Means for Texas Students and Teachers

Keep in mind, if you were a student in Texas, graduating on time should depend on overall academic performance, not just one test. Unfortunately, years ago, before the STAAR test existed, its predecessor—the TAKS test—could also prevent students from moving forward or even from walking at graduation, which was incredibly disheartening.

Less Stress? Texas House Aims to Ease Testing Pressure with STAAR Replacement

Although the STAAR test is being phased out, discussions between the House and Senate over the education bills are ongoing. There are still disagreements that must be resolved before the legislation can be sent to the governor’s desk for signing. Issues such as how the new assessments will be graded, how schools can challenge scores, and changes to grading criteria still need to be addressed. As of now, there is no set date for when the House and Senate will form a committee to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the bill. However, the 89th Regular Session ends on June 2, which means the two chambers have less than three weeks to finalize the legislation and get it signed into law.