Texas House approves bill to eliminate and replace STAAR test; bill heads to Gov. Abbott
The Texas House has approved House Bill 8, paving the way to eliminate the STAAR exam and replace it with three shorter assessments starting in the 2027-28 school year.
The House accepted changes made by the state Senate in the second special session and the bill passed with a vote of 79-47 Wednesday night.
The Texas Education Agency uses STAAR, State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, assessment scores for accountability ratings of schools and districts.
The new testing format would replace the STAAR test for three shorter assessments at the beginning, middle and end-of-year. This means that districts will be able to track growth throughout the year instead of year-end to year-end.
Many administrators and teachers across North Texas agreed that the high-stakes, one-day-a-year stress on teachers and students isn't working.
This new test would also deliver results in 48 hours.
Key reforms of HB 8:
- STAAR replaced by three shorter tests starting in 2027–28
- Teacher and parent feedback in 48 hours, raw scores two days upon completion
- Limits overtesting: benchmark testing capped to return classroom time to teachers
- Annual A–F ratings required; "Not Rated" designations banned
- Prohibits frivolous lawsuits against Pub. Ed. accountability measures
- Refreshes cut scores every 5 years to place Texas among top states in 15 years
Both the House and the Senate passed similar bills during the regular session, but ran out of time to work out the differences and send a unified version to the governor.
The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott.