Texas public school administrators, parents and education experts worry that a new law to replace the state’s standardized test could potentially increase student stress and the amount of time they spend taking tests, instead of reducing it.

The new law comes amid criticism that the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, creates too much stress for students and devotes too much instructional time to the test. The updated system aims to ease the pressure of a single exam by replacing STAAR with three shorter tests, which will be administered at the beginning, middle and end of the year. It will also ban practice tests, which Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath has said can take up weeks of instruction time and aren鈥檛 proven to help students do better on the standardized test. But some parents and teachers worry the changes won鈥檛 go far enough and that three tests will triple the pressure.

The law also calls for the TEA to study how to reduce the weight testing carries on the state鈥檚 annual school accountability ratings 鈥� which STAAR critics say is one reason why the test is so stressful and absorbs so much learning time 鈥� and create a way for the results of the three new tests to be factored into the ratings.

That report is not due until the 2029-30 school year, and the TEA is not required to implement those findings. Some worry the new law will mean schools鈥� ratings will continue to heavily depend on the results from the end-of-year test, while requiring students to start taking three exams. In other words: same pressure, more testing.

Cementing ‘what school districts are already doing’

The Texas Legislature passed during the second overtime lawmaking session this year to scrap the STAAR test.

Many of the reforms are meant to better monitor students鈥� academic growth throughout the school year.

For the early and mid-year exams, schools will be able to choose from a menu of nationally recognized assessments approved by the TEA. The agency will create the third test. Under the law, the three new tests will use percentile ranks comparing students to their peers in Texas; the third will also assess a student鈥檚 grasp of the curriculum.

In addition, scores will be required to be released about two days after students take the exam, so teachers can better tailor their lessons to student needs.

State Sen. , R-Houston, one of the architects behind the push to revamp the state鈥檚 standardized test, said he would like the first two tests to 鈥渂ecome part of learning鈥� so they can help students prepare for the end-of-year exam.

But despite the changes, the new testing system will likely resemble the current one when it launches in the 2027-28 school year, education policy experts say.

鈥淚t’s gonna take a couple of years before parents realize, to be honest, that you know, did they actually eliminate STAAR?鈥� said Bob Popinski with Raise Your Hand Texas, an education advocacy nonprofit.

Since many schools already conduct multiple exams throughout the year, the law will 鈥渂asically codify what school districts are already doing,鈥� Popinski said.

Lawmakers instructed TEA to develop a way to measure student progress based on the results from the three tests. But that metric won鈥檛 be ready when the new testing system launches in the 2027-28 school year. That means results from the standardized tests, and their weight in the state鈥檚 school accountability ratings system, will remain similar to what they are now.

Every Texas school district and campus receives an A-F rating based on graduation benchmarks and how students perform on state tests, their improvement in those areas, and how well they educate disadvantaged students. The best score out of the first two categories accounts for most of their overall rating. The rest is based on their score in the last category.

The accountability ratings are high stakes for school districts, which can face state sanctions for failing grades 鈥� from being forced to close school campuses to the ousting of their democratically elected school boards.

Supporters of the state鈥檚 accountability system say it is vital to assess whether schools are doing a good job at educating Texas children.

鈥淭he last test is part of the accountability rating, and that鈥檚 not going to change,鈥� Bettencourt said.

Critics say the current ratings system fails to take into account a lot of the work schools are doing to help children succeed outside of preparing them for standardized tests.

鈥淥ur school districts are doing a lot of interesting, great things out there for our kids,鈥� Popinski said. 鈥淎cademics and extracurricular activities and co-curricular activities, and those just aren’t being incorporated into the accountability report at all.鈥�

In response to calls to evaluate student success beyond testing, HB 8 also instructs the TEA to track student participation in pre-K, extracurriculars and workforce training in middle schools. But none of those metrics will be factored into schools鈥� ratings.

鈥淭here is some other interest in looking at other factors for accountability ratings, but it鈥檚 not mandated. It鈥檚 just going to be reviewed and surveyed,鈥� Bettencourt said.

Student stress worries

Even though many schools already conduct testing throughout the year, Popinski said the new system created by HB 8 could potentially boost test-related stress among students.

State Rep. , R-Salado, who sponsored the testing overhaul in the Texas House, wrote in a statement that 鈥淭EA will determine testing protocols through their normal process.鈥� This means it will be up to TEA to decide the rules that it currently uses for the STAAR test. Those include that schools dedicate three to four hours to the exam and that administrators create seating charts, spread out desks and manage restroom breaks.

School administrators said the worst-case scenario would be if all three of the new tests had to follow lockdown protocols like the ones that currently come with STAAR. Holly Ferguson, superintendent of Prosper ISD, said the high-pressure environment associated with the state鈥檚 standardized test makes some of her students ill.

鈥淚t shouldn’t be that we have kids sick and anxiety is going through the roof because they know the next test is coming,鈥� Ferguson said.

The TEA did not respond to a request for comment.

HB 8 also seeks to limit the time teachers spend preparing students for state assessments, partly by banning benchmark tests for 3-8 grades. Bettencourt told the Tribune the new system is expected to save per student.

Buckley said the new law 鈥渨ill reduce the overall number of tests a student takes as well as the time they spend on state assessments throughout the school year, dramatically relieving the pressure and stress caused by over-testing.鈥�

But some critics worry that any time saved by banning practice tests will be lost by testing three times a year. In 2022, Florida changed its testing system from a single exam to three tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the new system would , but the number of minutes students spent taking exams almost the year the new system went into effect.

Popinski added that much of the stress the test induces comes from the heavy weight the end-of-year assessment holds on a school鈥檚 accountability rating. The pressure to perform that the current system places on school district administrators transfers to teachers and students, critics have said.

鈥淭he pressures are going to be almost exactly the same,鈥� Popinski said.

What parents, educators want for the new test

Retired Fort Worth teacher Jim Ekrut said he worries about the ban on practice tests, because in his experience, test preparations helped reduce his students鈥� anxiety.

Ekrut said teachers鈥� experience assessing students is one reason why educators should be involved in creating the new end-of-year exam.

鈥淭he better decisions are going to be made with input from people right on that firing line,鈥� Ekrut said.

HB 8 requires that a committee of educators appointed by the commissioner reviews the new test that TEA will create. Some, like Ferguson and David Vinson, former superintendent of Wylie ISD who started at Conroe this week, said they hope the menu of possible assessments districts can pick for the first two tests includes a national program they already use called , or MAP.

The Prosper and Wylie districts are some that administer MAP exams at the beginning, middle and end of the year. More than 4,500 school districts nationwide use these online tests, which change the difficulty of the questions as students log their answers to better assess their skill level and growth. A conducted by the organization that runs MAP found that the test is a strong indicator of how students perform on the end-of-year standardized test.

Criteria-based tests like STAAR measure a student鈥檚 grasp on grade-level skills, whereas norm-based exams like MAP measure a student鈥檚 growth over the course of instruction. Vinson described this program as a 鈥渃heckup,鈥� while STAAR is an 鈥渁utopsy.鈥�

Rachel Spires, whose children take MAP tests at Sunnyvale ISD, said MAP testing doesn鈥檛 put as much pressure on students as STAAR does.

Spires said her children鈥檚 schedules are rearranged for the month of April, when Sunnyvale administers the STAAR test, and parents are barred from coming to campus for lunch. MAP tests, on the other hand, typically take less time to complete, and the school has fewer rules for how they are administered.

鈥淲hen the MAP tests come around, they don’t do the modified schedules, and they don’t do the review packets and prep testing or anything like that,鈥� Spires said. 鈥淚t’s just like, 鈥極kay, tomorrow you’re gonna do a MAP test,鈥� and it’s over in like an hour.鈥�

For Ferguson, the Prosper ISD superintendent, a relaxed environment around testing is key to achieving the new law鈥檚 goal of reducing student stress.

鈥淚f it’s just another day at school, I’m all in,鈥� Ferguson said. 鈥淏ut if we lock it down, and we create a very compliance-driven system that’s very archaic and anxiety- and worry-inducing to the point that it starts having potential harmful effects on our kids 鈥� our teachers and our parents, I’m not okay with that.鈥�

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Texas lawmakers have sent legislation replacing STAAR, the state鈥檚 widely unpopular state standardized test, to Gov. 鈥檚 desk.

Once Abbott signs , Texas will swap the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness for three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of each school year. Students will begin to take the new tests in the 2027-28 school year.

鈥淗ouse Bill 8 ends the high stakes and high stress nature of one test, one day,鈥� Rep. , the bill鈥檚 author, said Wednesday evening before the Texas House voted to send the proposal to Abbott. 鈥淭his is unprecedented oversight of the assessment and accountability system by this body.鈥�

Legislators replaced STAAR amid frustration from families and teachers, who say the test puts too much pressure on students and that preparing for it takes up too much time in the classroom.

The bill鈥檚 passage comes after two earlier attempts failed to scrap STAAR. Legislation to that effect during the final hours of this year鈥檚 regular lawmaking session because the House and the Senate could not agree on what they wanted out of the new test. Chamber leaders reconciled many of their differences earlier this summer, but when they fled the state in an attempt to stop a rare mid-decade redistricting effort. in August, allowing the House to continue working on legislation.

School accountability experts celebrated the new standardized testing system, which is used to assess whether students have the core academic skills they need to be ready for life after high school. Testing throughout the year, experts said, will give families a better window into how their children are doing and help teachers tailor their instruction to meet students鈥� needs.

But some House members were displeased with the concessions the lower chamber made to the Senate to reach an agreement. They questioned whether HB 8 does enough to reduce the pressure on students and the amount of time spent on testing.

鈥淭his bill was supposed to be the bill that was the win for our public schools and for our kids,鈥� Rep. , D-Austin, said on the House floor Wednesday. 鈥淭his is no win. This is a terrible bill 鈥� I can鈥檛 even believe it鈥檚 made it this far.鈥�

Here鈥檚 what you need to know about the changes coming to the state鈥檚 standardized test.

Students to take three, shorter standardized tests

The three shorter tests will replace the end-of-the-year STAAR in an effort to reduce the pressure that a single test puts on students and monitor more closely their academic growth.

Schools that already require students to take nationally recognized assessments will be able to count those as the beginning- and middle-of-the-year tests. It is unclear yet which exams will be acceptable to meet that requirement.

The Texas Education Agency will have a hand in creating the end-of-the-year test. Many House Democrats opposed HB 8 saying the TEA should have less of a role in shaping the test at a time when STAAR鈥檚 shortcomings have pushed school districts and families to distrust the agency. Buckley has defended TEA鈥檚 role by pointing to a committee of 40 classroom teachers that will act as a counterbalance, reviewing the tests鈥� questions and weighing in on their rigor.

Families can expect to get test scores in about two days, a much speedier turnaround compared to the current wait, which can take up to several weeks. Results for all three tests will now be presented as percentile ranks, which show how students are performing compared to their classmates. The end-of-year test results would also show the state鈥檚 assessment of whether students have approached, met or mastered grade-level skills, like the current STAAR test does.

Proponents of testing students throughout the year hope it will give teachers useful information about where students are struggling, so they can tweak instruction to meet those learning gaps.

Educators can no longer run students through practice tests

Teachers won鈥檛 be able to give their students practice exams ahead of the state standardized tests.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath has told lawmakers that practice exams can take up weeks of instruction time and aren鈥檛 proven to help students do better on the test.

The ban on practice tests could buy back 15 to 30 hours of lost instructional time per student each school year, according to estimates from David Osman, an auditor of standardized testing.

Graduation requirement to pass English II ends

High schoolers will no longer need to pass the English II assessment, which is currently a graduation requirement. It鈥檚 the first time Texas has eased graduation testing requirements since 2015, Buckley said.

Students will still need to pass an end-of-the-year test on English I to get their high school diploma, along with exams in algebra and biology.

The House pushed to make exams optional for some subjects in HB 8 to decrease testing. Before the lower chamber voted on the bill, Hinojosa added a provision to get rid of the English II test.

Hinojosa also tried to get rid of social studies portions of the exam. But when HB 8 got to the Senate floor last week, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, added them back in, saying students should test in that subject to ensure they have foundational knowledge for civic engagement. As a result, eighth graders will continue to test on social studies and high schoolers on U.S. history.

Scores on three tests will count toward schools鈥� A-F ratings

Texas uses standardized test results to grade schools on how well they are educating their students through what is known as the state鈥檚 A-F accountability system. With testing set to change, legislators instructed TEA to develop a metric for student progress based on growth over the three new tests, with the intent of factoring that metric into each school鈥檚 rating.

Such a metric hasn鈥檛 been introduced into any state鈥檚 school accountability system, according to analysis from EdTrust. It is unclear how the TEA will create a consistent way to track student growth given that schools will be allowed to take different tests for the beginning and middle of the year.

HB 8 also waded into how much power TEA should have in changing the benchmarks for schools to get a good grade, a key point of tension in between school districts and the education agency. The bill codifies that the TEA has the power to refresh those goal posts every five years. It also requires TEA to announce any changes to the accountability system by July 15 of each year, about a month before the school year starts.

The stakes for how the state measures schools鈥� performance are : Failing grades can bring on state sanctions, like forcing a struggling school to close or ousting a district鈥檚 democratically elected school board.

In response to calls to evaluate student success beyond testing, the legislation also instructs the TEA to track student participation in pre-K, extracurriculars and workforce training in middle schools. But none of those metrics will be factored into schools鈥� ratings.

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Texas鈥� students saw some wins in reading but continued to struggle to bounce back from pandemic-related learning losses in math, state testing results released Tuesday showed.

Elementary students who took the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam this year made the biggest gains in reading across grade levels. Third graders saw a three percentage point increase in reading, a milestone because early literacy is a strong indicator of future academic success. Progress among middle students in the subject, meanwhile, slowed.

鈥淭hese results are encouraging and reflect the impact of the strategic supports we鈥檝e implemented in recent years,鈥� said Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. 鈥淲e are seeing meaningful signs of academic recovery and progress.鈥�

This year鈥檚 third grade test takers have benefited from state investments in early literacy in recent years. Teachers in their classrooms have completed state-led training in early literacy instruction, known as reading academies. The state also expanded pre-K access and enrollment in 2019.

Morath did acknowledge students needed more help to make similar gains in math. Five years after pandemic-related school closures, students are still struggling to catch up in that subject, the results showed. About 43% of students met grade-level standards for math, a 2 percentage point increase from the previous year, but still shy of the 50% reached in 2019.

Low performance in math can effectively shut students out of high-paying, in-demand STEM careers. Economic leaders have been sounding the alarm about the implications that weak math skills can have on the state鈥檚 future workforce pipeline.

The STAAR exam tests all Texas public school students in third through eighth grade in math and reading. A science test is also administered for fifth and eighth graders, as well as a social studies test for eighth graders. Science performance improved among fifth and eighth grades by 3 and 4 percentage points respectively, but students in those grades are still below where they were before the pandemic.

Students in special education also made small gains. English learners, meanwhile, saw drops in all subjects but one 鈥� a 4% decrease in reading, a 2% decrease in math, and a 2% decrease in social studies.

The test scores give families a snapshot of how Texas students are learning. School accountability ratings 鈥� which the Texas Education Agency gives out to each district and campus on an A through F scale as a score for their performance 鈥� are also largely based on how students do on the standardized tests.

The test often casts a shadow over classrooms at the end of the year, with teachers across the state saying they lose weeks of valuable instructional time preparing children to take the test. Some parents also because of . They have said their kids because of the enormous pressure the hours-long, end-of-year test puts on them.

A bill that would have scrapped the STAAR test died in the last days of the 2025 legislative session. Both Republican and Democratic legislators expressed a desire to overhaul STAAR, but in the end, the House and Senate could not align on what they wanted out of an alternative test.

Legislators this session did approve a sweeping school finance package that included academic intervention for students who are struggling before they first take their STAAR test in third grade. The package also requires teachers get training in math instruction, mirroring existing literacy training mandates.

Parents can look up their students鈥� test results .

Graphics by Edison Wu

This article originally appeared in , a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Partial scores from the state鈥檚 standardized test released Friday show high school students are still struggling with algebra, once again raising concerns about young Texans鈥� readiness to enter high-paying careers in STEM-related fields.

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness end-of-course tests evaluate high-schoolers in five subjects: Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II and U.S. History. The exams gauge and if they need additional help to catch up.

The percentage of students who took the test this spring and met grade level for Algebra I was 45%, the same as last year. Since the pandemic, students鈥� academic performance in the subject has remained mostly unchanged. The latest results are still 17 percentage points below students’ scores in spring 2019.

鈥淭he data is clear, Texas students continue to struggle with math recovery,鈥� said Gabe Grantham, policy advisor at public policy think tank Texas 2036. 鈥淲e run the risk of leaving students ill-equipped to enter the future workforce without the basic math skills needed to be successful.鈥�

Education policy analysts closely observe Algebra I results because a wealth of research links the subject to students鈥� future success in their careers after high school. Kate Greer, the managing director of policy at The Commit Partnership, said STAAR test scores allow researchers to delve into districts that performed better than the state average and form concrete policy proposals to help improve math scores.

鈥淲e are still underperforming compared to where we were pre-pandemic, so it is incumbent on us as a state to collectively focus on what we know works,鈥� Greer said. 鈥淭he value of assessments is it can focus adult behavior, shine a flashlight on opportunities where we can improve more and highlight best practices when we鈥檙e seeing impressive growth.鈥�

However, in the past few years, high schoolers have consistently scored better on their English tests since the pandemic. Emergent bilingual students, or students who are learning English as a second language, have steadily performed better on the English I and II tests. The percentage of emergent bilingual students who met grade level went from 12% in 2019 to 30% this spring.

Test results for U.S. history and biology still lag behind pre-pandemic levels, but they are much closer to catching up than in math.

Across all five subjects, low-income students graded lower than students who were not economically disadvantaged. For example, 35% of low-income students met grade level in Algebra I, compared to 61% of all other students.
In a push to improve math skills, the Texas Legislature last year passed , which automatically puts middle schoolers into a higher math class if they do well in previous courses. Lt. Gov. included reading and math readiness on his , suggesting that lawmakers will revisit the issue during next year鈥檚 legislative session.

Disclosure: Commit Partnership and Texas 2036 have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

This article originally appeared in at .

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

In the last few years, the Socorro Independent School District has been preparing its middle school students to enroll in algebra once they get to the eighth grade 鈥� a class typically taken by high school freshmen 鈥� hoping to get more of them into college-level math in high school.

By 2022, nearly 100% of the district鈥檚 eighth-graders were taking algebra 1, a class most Texas students take in ninth grade. Now, five SISD schools are being recognized for having the highest middle school algebra 1 test scores in El Paso County for the 2022-23 school year.

On Monday, the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, or CREEED, is awarding nearly $60,000 in cash gift cards to faculty and staff at Col. John Ensor Middle School, Montwood Middle School, Rafael Hernando III Middle School and William D. Slider Middle School and the Ernesto Serna Fine Arts Academy. The non-profit funds programs in both traditional school districts and charter schools in hopes of improving student performance in El Paso.

SISD school improvement officer Carmen Crosse said the plan to get more of the district’s middle school students into a high school math class started during the 2018-19 school year. At the time, SISD had about 40% of its eighth graders enrolled in algebra 1.

By the end 2018-19 school year, 93% of those students met grade level and 73% mastered the subject in their spring STAAR exam scores.

鈥淚n 2019, we saw that kids could do more, so why not provide that opportunity to more kids?鈥� Crosse told El Paso Matters. 鈥淭eachers and administrators were open to the idea of moving as many kids as were ready to take algebra class, and we found that they did well.鈥�

Crosse said SISD begins preparing its students for the class as soon as they enter middle school by introducing material students would normally learn later on.

鈥淲e started adding some seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum into the sixth and the seventh grade to ensure that they have seen and reviewed that higher level material,鈥� Crosse said. 鈥淎nd our teachers in the algebra classes are also providing interventions if there are gaps.鈥�

Cade Vera, 13, an eighth grader at Sun Ridge Middle School in the SISD, said that while Algebra may be a tough subject, he is learning the concepts and enjoys the work.

“It’s different, but if you pay attention and do the work, you won’t fail,” he said. “The teacher is taking a lot of time to move us along. The students struggling are those that don’t do the work.”

Crosse said the transition was delayed when students fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic, but by the 2022-23 school year almost all of SISD鈥檚 eighth graders were taking algebra 1. Crosse noted there were a few exceptions for students who had transferred from another school district.

That year, Ensor got the highest middle school algebra 1 STAAR test scores with 84% of its total students meeting grade level.

鈥淚 want to credit my algebra 1 team who stayed after school all the time, who dedicated their personal time to come in on Saturdays and who took off half of their intercession to come be with the kids,鈥� said Ensor Middle School Principal Stephen Fernandez. 鈥淭his is a very special group. It is not the norm to have teachers be this dedicated to their craft.鈥�

Fernandez said the school also implemented a double block schedule that required students to take an intervention class along with their regular math course after administrators saw significant gaps in its seventh-grade test scores.

School administrators, CREEED leaders and education experts agree that having students take algebra 1 in middle school ultimately gives them more options to decide what they want to do in high school and beyond. In particular, it can allow them to take math classes for college credit while in high school.

鈥淚t opens up other opportunities for them in high school whether they want to get into early college or any other specialty. We’re really excited about getting them prepared, opening up their schedule and giving more opportunities for them to do other things,鈥� Fernandez said.

One of those options may be enrolling in SISD鈥檚 early college program, where students can earn an associate鈥檚 degree or 60 credit hours towards a bachelor’s degree. During the 2022-23 school year, about 450 students graduated from SISD with college degrees ranging from nursing to business and finance.

Crosse said SISD hopes that number will rise to about 600 at the end of the 2023-24 school year, as more students who took algebra 1 in eighth grade after 2019 begin to graduate.

For now, CREEED hopes to encourage other school districts to follow SISD鈥檚 lead and get at least 90% of El Paso鈥檚 eighth graders enrolled in algebra 1 through its Algebra In Middle School (AIM High) initiative. The goal is to get students enrolled in dual credit classes once they get to high school and ultimately improve their chances of succeeding in college.

鈥淲e have put a lot of focus on trying to get a higher level of preparation for post-secondary education, and algebra is one of the gateway courses,鈥� Eddie Rodriguez, CREEED鈥檚 executive director and board secretary, told El Paso Matters. 鈥淏y opening the gateway earlier you actually get a greater opportunity for students to effectively reach to the next level.鈥�

CREEED researchers also found that having more eighth graders in algebra 1 could improve their test scores. During the 2022-23 school year, all of the top-performing middle schools in algebra 1 had the majority of their students enrolled in the class.

As part of the initiative, members of CREEED will give every faculty and staff member at the top five performing middle schools in algebra 1 gift cards ranging from $50 to $500.

Rodriguez said the organization wanted to recognize the teachers and staff 鈥� ranging from secretaries to custodians 鈥� for their roles in helping students succeed.

鈥淲e recognize that something like this comes about because of the commitment of the entire school and all of its staff. So what we decided to do in this effort is to recognize the entire school.鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淚t takes that kind of engagement to bring these kinds of results.鈥�

Disclosure: The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development is a financial supporter of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters鈥� journalism. The news organization鈥檚 policy on editorial independence can be found .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Texas students鈥� standardized test scores in reading and math moved closer to pre-pandemic levels after falling to levels not seen in a decade the year before, according to results released Friday by the Texas Education Agency.

Each spring, Texas students take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR test. In math, 40% of all students in grades 3-8 met grade level or above this year, a 5-percentage-point increase from the previous year. In reading, 52% of all students met grade level or above, representing a 9-percentage point increase from the previous year.

鈥淭his gives you a picture of what has happened statewide with regard to student proficiency and it is largely a story of recovery. It is a story of hope,鈥� Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said. 鈥淚t is evidence that we have extraordinary people working in public schools in Texas.鈥�

Brian Woods, superintendent of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, credits students鈥� return to their physical classrooms and the work teachers have put in this past year despite disruptions caused by the spread of COVID-19, for the rise in scores.

鈥淟et’s give the credit where credit’s due,鈥� Woods said.

Friday鈥檚 announcement comes two weeks after the , who showed slight improvement.

The STAAR had a 98% participation rate this year among all students. Last school year, STAAR exams were optional for students, and districts weren鈥檛 rated based on the results. This year though, the scores will count and according to the results. Accountability results for school districts are scheduled to come out in August.

School administrators scores wouldn鈥檛 see much improvement this past school year because of school disruptions caused by surges delta and omicron surges. Already understaffed school districts had teachers and substitutes out with COVID, prompting many districts to ask parents to fill in.

While the 2021-22 scores showed improvements in math for third- through eighth-graders current math levels remain 10 percentage points under the 2019 math levels. Texas had been making successful strides in math scores since 2012, when only 34% of students met grade level or above.

It was different with reading, as this school year鈥檚 results surpassed those seen in 2019 and in the last decade.

By race, Hispanics, more than half of Texas鈥� 5.4 million public school students, saw gains as well, as 44% met grade level or above in reading, an 9-percentage-point increase from the previous school year and a 4-percentage-point increase from 2019. In math, 34% met grade level or above, an 8-percentage-point increase, but still 11 percentage points off their 2019 level.

Among Black students, 25% met grade level or above in math, a 5-percentage point increase from the previous year. In the same subject in 2019, 34% met or exceeded their grade level. In reading, 40% of students met grade level or above, an 8-percentage-point increase and 5-percentage-point increase from 2019. Black students represent about 13% of all Texas public school students.

English language learners and special education and economically disadvantaged students also improved their scores in reading and math.

In math, 30% of all economically disadvantaged students met grade level or above, a 7-percentage point increase from the previous year. But, this is still a 11-percentage point decrease from their 2019 scores, right before the pandemic hit.

In reading, 41% of all economically disadvantaged students met grade level or above, a 10-percentage-point increase from the year before and a 5-percentage-point increase from 2019.

While there were gains for these students, a significant gap still exists between them and non-economically disadvantaged students. In math, 55% of students who aren鈥檛 economically disadvantaged met grade level or above. In reading, 67% met grade level or above.

Among English language learners, 29% met grade level or above in math, a 9-percentage-point increase from the year before. In reading, 31% met grade level or above in reading, an 11-percentage point-increase.

For special education students, 13% met grade level or above in math, a 1-percentage-point increase from the previous year. In reading, 17% of these students met grade level or above, a 5-percentage-point increase.

Morath said the improved scores were the result of Texas teachers鈥� strong commitment this year and help from the Texas Legislature, specifically, which requires schools to offer students 30 hours of targeted instruction based on how many STAAR subjects a student failed. He also credited the state-mandated teacher training called . Teachers who teach K-3 must complete this training as part of an effort to improve student reading scores.

Historically, Texas hasn鈥檛 been the best at catching students up after a major school disruption. Students affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 didn鈥檛 meet state standards in reading until four years after the hurricane hit, and they never got there in math, according to the TEA.

In the latest , known as 鈥淭he Nation鈥檚 Report Card,鈥� in Texas performed at or above proficient level, and only one-quarter of eight graders performed at or above proficient level.

Woods, Northside ISD superintendent, said implementing HB 4545 has been difficult as school districts continue to struggle with staffing shortages. Once school is back with no COVID disruptions, Woods believes there is going to be more rapid improvement.

鈥淭eachers are just simply going to have more time with students,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the key.鈥�

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