Texas House passes bill to eliminate STAAR, replace with different testing program

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- When elementary and middle school students begin the 2025-2026 school year in September there's a chance they could be facing a new era of testing in Texas public schools.

The Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill to eliminate the STAAR, a standardized test the state uses to monitor student performance. It has faced criticism from school leaders and lawmakers who say the end-of-year test places too much stress on students to perform well.

"If you have assessments and accountability without a focus on instruction, you have high-stress testing," State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, the author of the bill, said on the House floor.

The proposal aims to replace the STAAR with three shorter tests spaced throughout the year. Students would be tested in the beginning of the year, the middle and one last time at the end of the year. The goal is to provide real-time results to teachers and parents so students can receive better instruction based off their needs.

Currently the STAAR issues results six weeks after the students take the test in April. By that time, most students are out of school for the summer and school leaders say they can not act on the results from the assessment until the next school year. The proposed nationally norm-referenced tests would share results 24 hours after a student takes it.

Dr. Brad Owen, the superintendent of Burkburnett ISD, testified in favor of the bill in April. He explained the benefits of the new tests, saying it gives he and his staff, "the opportunity to sit together and look at the data, talk about instructional strategies that were used, which instructional strategies were better, and then actually apply that instructional strategy while I got the kids in the classroom."

It is also predicted to save school districts a lot of time spent on preparing students for the STAAR test. Buckley said school leaders have told him they spend about 10% of the school year on practice tests and other assessments in preparation for the test.

"The number of testing days would be reduced by half, allowing schools to rededicate that time to additional learning opportunities for kids," Dr. Justin Terry, the superintendent of Forney ISD, said in a public hearing.

The Senate already passed its version of the bill to replace the STAAR test with a similar proposal, but the two bills have different plans on the rollout. The House's version would start the new testing program in September, while the Senate would roll it out of the next three years.

Nexstar reached out to the Texas Education Agency to see how it would implement a rollout. A spokesperson with the agency said it's unable to comment on prospective legislation.

State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, asked Buckley on the House floor what it would take to get his version of the bill passed in the Senate. Buckley said it's going to take a lot of hard work. "I believe that it is consistent throughout this chamber and the chamber to the east, that one test one day is not the future for Texas," Buckley said.