Welcome to Spring Independent School District’s State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) homepage, which provides valuable information about the STAAR program. As mandated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), students in grades 3 through 12 are required to take part in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness program. TEA implemented STAAR to fulfill requirements enacted by the Texas Legislature. STAAR is an assessment designed to measure the extent to which students have learned and are able to apply the knowledge and skills defined in the state-mandated curriculum, the TEKS. One important function of STAAR is to gauge how well schools and teachers are preparing their students academically. The test is specifically designed to measure individual student progress in relation to content that is directly tied to the TEKS. Every STAAR question is directly aligned to the TEKS currently in effect for the grade/subject or course being assessed.

STAAR for grades 3 through 8 assess the same subjects that were assessed by Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Students first enrolled in grade 9 or below in the 2011–12 school year are required to take the STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments for courses in which they are enrolled as part of their graduation requirements. Those students no longer take TAKS. 

The STAAR EOC assessments test high school students for college readiness and produce performance labels that indicate a student’s mastery of the course’s standards. The EOC tests assess the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for a given course. In addition to passing courses, a score of satisfactory or above is required to graduate.

The STAAR program includes annual assessments for

• Reading and mathematics, grades 3–8
• Writing at grades 4 and 7
• Science at grades 5 and 8
• Social studies at grade 8
• End-of-course assessments for English I, English II, Algebra I, Biology and U.S history.

STAAR Spanish is also available for English language learners (ELLs) in grades 3–5 for whom an assessment in Spanish provides the most appropriate measure of academic progress. STAAR Spanish is available in each subject area assessed by the English version.

Beginning in 2016, TEA will voluntarily administer STAAR EOC assessments for English III and Algebra II.