The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) test is being redesigned to make the test more tightly aligned to the classroom experience.
Summative Tests Redesign Overview
The STAAR redesign is a result of House Bill (HB) 3906 passed by the 86thTexas Legislature in 2019. The Texas Education Agency (TEA), working with a wide range of education stakeholders, including the Assessment Education Advisory Committee, has been exploring the most instructionally supportive approach to implementing these changes. The redesign will be implemented in the state summative assessments administered in the 2022–2023 school year.
The STAAR redesign includes several components:
- Online Testingand Accommodations
- New Question Types
- Cross-curricular Passages
- Evidence-based Writing
For more information about how the STAAR redesign improves alignment to the classroom experience, hear what teachers are saying, reference the STAAR Redesign February 2022 Presentation (PDF, posted 3/7/22), or see below for more information about each component. For answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ), please reference the STAAR Redesign FAQ (PDF, updated 8/30/22).
Online Testing and Accommodations
House Bill (HB) 3261, enacted by the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021, requires state assessments to be administered online by the 2022–2023 school year. Online administration allows students to receive accommodations like those they get in the classroom, provides faster test results, improves test operations, and allows new non-multiple-choice questions. This transition will require nearly all students to be assessed online, with the exceptions of students taking the STAAR Alternate 2 assessment and students who require accommodations that cannot be provided online.See what educators have to say about the robust accommodations available to students through online testing.
Resources to Support Online Testing and Accommodations:
- Transition to STAAR Online Assessments Implementation Guide (PDF posted 11/02/21)
- List of Vendor and Regional Supports for Transition to Online (PDF posted 11/02/21)
- TEA Transition To Online Testing Infrastructure Grant
- State of Texas Transition to Online Assessments Feasibility Study(PDF posted 12/01/20)
- Video summary of the transition to online testing
- Eligibility requirements for a specialpaper administration of an online test
New Question Types
House Bill 3906 established a “multiple choice cap,” meaning that no more than 75% of points on a STAAR test can be based on multiple choice questions. Texas educators are helping design new question types that reflect classroom test questions and allow students more ways to show their understanding. All possible new question typesare being field-tested with students to ensure validity before they are incorporated into the redesigned summative tests beginning in spring 2023.
Resources to Support New Question Types
- Full-length online practice test
- STAAR Released Test Questions
- New question types scoring and reporting guides
- Math(PDF posted 8/15/22)
- Reading Language Arts(PDF posted 08/19/22)
- Science(PDF posted 1/27/22)
- Social Studies(PDF posted 1/27/22)
- Spanish Reading Language Arts(PDF posted 8/25/22)
- RLA Writing Rubrics-English/Spanish
- STAAR Scoring Guides (Samples)
- RLA Grades 3-5 Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- RLA Grades 3-5 Constructed Response-Spanish (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- RLA Grades 6-8 Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- English I and II Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- Science Grade 5 Short Constructed Response-English/Spanish(PDF posted 10/7/22)
- Science Grade 8 Short Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- Biology Short Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- Social Studies Grade 8 Short Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- US History Short Constructed Response (PDF posted 10/7/22)
- Updated test blueprints
Cross-curricular Passages
There will be an increase in the number of cross-curricular informational passages that reference content aligned to the TEKS for other subject areas (e.g., social studies, science, mathematics, fine arts, etc.). While the cross-curricular passages on reading language arts (RLA) test will include topics from other subject areas, the questions will only assess RLA TEKS; students will not be scored on their understanding of TEKS for other subject areas.
Resources to Support New Question Types
- Updated test blueprints
Evidence-based Writing
Beginning with the 2022–2023 school year, RLA assessments will assess both reading and writing (grades 3–8 English, grades 3–5 Spanish, and English I and II End-of-Course) and will include new question types and an extended constructed response, or essay, at every grade level.
Based on research and educator feedback, the essay component will shift from a standalone prompt to writing in response to a reading selection. Students will write in one of three possible modes: informational, argumentative, or correspondence and will be scored using a 5-point rubric. The rubric will include two main components: idea development and language conventions.
Resources to Support Evidence-based Writing on all Tests
- RLA assessed curriculum guidesand preliminary test blueprints
To clarify any information from the content on this web page, please submit aHelp Desk ticket to Student Assessment
