State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, commonly referred to as its acronym STAAR (star), are a series of state-mandated standardized tests used in Texas public primary and secondary schools to assess a student's achievements and knowledge learned in the grade level. It tests curriculum taught from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, which in turn is taught by public schools. The test used to be developed by Pearson Education every school year, although the most recent contract gave Educational Testing Service a role in creating some of the tests, under the close supervision of the Texas Education Agency.

The test was announced because the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (commonly referred to its acronym TAKS) assessment was repealed by Texas Senate Bill 1031 in spring 2007. The bill called for secondary schools (for grades 9-11) to take end of course assessments every time a student was at the end of taking a course, instead of taking general "core subject" tests. STAAR mostly replaced the TAKS in the spring of 2012, although students who entered 10th grade before the 2011-2012 school year continued to take the TAKS. This process is part of the TAKS to STAAR transition plan. In 2015 the last students had taken the TAKS test, so the first students will graduate with a completed STAAR end of course assessments. However, many policies from the TAKS are still withheld in the STAAR's policies for practical purposes.

Schools who receive funds from the state of Texas are required to enforce these tests among students who attend the schools. Any private school, charter school, and or homeschooling that does not receive monetary support from Texas is not required to take the STAAR test, and as of May 2012 can only take the TAKS test by ordering from Pearson Education (not to be confused with Pearson PLC)

When Senate Bill 1031 was passed in spring 2007, it called for the TAKS to be repealed. In 2010 Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott announced the successor to the TAKS, STAAR. The STAAR had intensified rigorousness and end of course assessments, instead of a unified 9th, 10th, and 11th grade Mathematics, ELA, Science and Social Studies test. Therefore, one would take an Algebra I test in order to pass Algebra I, and so on. During a speech at the Texas Association of School Administrators’ Midwinter Conference in Austin, Scott also said the last TAKS-based school accountability ratings will be issued in 2011. Ratings will be suspended in 2012 while a new accountability system is developed. The new state rating system will debut in 2013.

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