AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Senate Committee on Education K-16 heard invited and public testimony Wednesday on Senate Bill 8, which would eliminate the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, replacing it with more frequent exams to measure student growth. The committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the Senate floor.
The STAAR test was first implemented in 2012 and is a once yearly standardized test offered to students starting in 3rd grade and continuing through high school in certain subjects. The legislature considered a bill during the 2025 regular session to eliminate the test, with proponents of the bill arguing that the test puts pressure on students and prevents districts from consistently measuring outcomes.
SB 8 would eliminate the STAAR test and maintain the existing Beginning of Year (BOY), Middle of Year (MOY) and End of Year (EOY) tests, which will measure student growth across the year as opposed to just pass or failure.
The BOY and MOY tests would also be adaptive, meaning the questions change depending on if the question before it is answered correctly or not. This format allows the tests to produce more data with fewer questions. The tests also deliver results more quickly, within as few as two days, which proponents say allows parents to have more time to discuss results with teachers and improve their child’s learning.
“When you get a BOY, you can see how much you grew from the end of last year, and MOY, how much you’ve grown since the BOY and then the EOY, how much you grew since the middle of the year,” said Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. “That way, teachers and the other educational staff have immediate access to those results to begin changing instructional practices.”
While lawmakers largely agreed on the need to eliminate the test earlier this year — it passed nearly unanimously in the House and overwhelmingly in the Senate — the bill to eliminate the STAAR test died during the regular session after the Senate and House could not agree on a proposal before the end of session.
The two chambers disagreed over how much authority the TEA should have over determining standards to rate each school on an A-F scale, with A being the highest grade and F being the lowest. The current proposal of SB 8 would side with the Senate’s proposal from the regular session, to give TEA full autonomy without legislative approval. An identical version has been filed in the house as House Bill 8.
The A-F rating system was first approved by the legislature in 2021. Taylor Landing, executive vice president of the Greater Houston Partnership, said that the system, along with the accountability which accompanies it, have made major improvements to the Houston Independent School District’s school ratings.
“A through F ratings show that 74% of HISD schools are now A and B rated,” Landing said. “That’s up from just 35% two years ago, and zero F rated schools. It’s an extraordinary measure of progress.”
Discussing how the rating system can be used to improve schools, Kate Greer of Texas 2036, a nonpartisan policy group, said getting frequently updated data on school’s performance can allow even previously low performing schools to improve to an A rating because teachers and parents can intervene to help their students in enough time to make an impact.
“This is not possible without having clear and transparent data,” Greer said. “And SB 8 stands to improve this even more by making sure that we have this on a consistent yearly basis, and the tests that are given within the year can be actionable for teachers and parents as well.”
All members of the committee expressed their appreciation for those supporting the bill, and passed it out of committee relatively quickly. The bill will now head to the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass. It is unclear whether or not the bill can pass the House, as Democrats are currently breaking quorum in an attempt to stop Republican congressional redistricting.