What Is the STAAR Test?
The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) is the statewide testing program used to measure how well Texas public school students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
For students in Grades 3–8, STAAR assessments measure achievement in reading language arts (RLA), mathematics, science, and social studies at designated grade levels. High school students take STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) assessments for certain required courses.
If your child will be taking STAAR, don’t wait until testing week to find out what the assessment looks like. Today’s STAAR is different from the test many parents remember. The assessment was significantly redesigned beginning with the 2022–23 school year and is now administered primarily online, with new question formats designed to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways.
TestingMom can help your child build the reading, math, reasoning, and test-taking skills needed to approach STAAR with greater confidence. Start with online practice or consider personalized tutoring if your child needs additional support.
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Which STAAR Tests Does My Child Take?
The STAAR assessment your child takes depends on grade level and, in high school, the courses in which the student is enrolled.
Current Grades 3–8 assessments include:
| Grade | STAAR Subjects |
|---|---|
| 3 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics |
| 4 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics |
| 5 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics, Science |
| 6 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics |
| 7 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics |
| 8 | Reading Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies |
Texas also administers Spanish STAAR assessments in Grades 3–5 for mathematics and RLA and in Grade 5 for science.
STAAR End-of-Course Assessments
At the high school level, the five STAAR EOC assessments are:
- Algebra I
- English I
- English II
- Biology
- U.S. History
These EOC assessments are associated with Texas high school graduation requirements. Students who do not initially meet the required standard have additional testing opportunities, and Texas law provides other pathways in certain circumstances, including Individual Graduation Committees for eligible students.
Unlike Grades 3–8 STAAR tests, which are administered once each spring without a regular retest opportunity, EOC assessments are offered during multiple testing periods.
What Happened to the STAAR Writing Test?
Writing is now integrated into the STAAR Reading Language Arts assessment for Grades 3–8. English I and English II EOC assessments also combine reading and writing.
Current RLA assessments include an extended constructed response, or essay, based on a reading passage. Depending on the assessment, students may be asked to write an informational, argumentative, or correspondence-based response.
This makes strong reading comprehension especially important. Students must not only understand a text but also use information and evidence from what they have read to construct an effective written response.
How Has the STAAR Test Changed?
The STAAR program underwent a major redesign beginning in the 2022–23 school year. Parents preparing a child for the current STAAR should make sure they are not relying exclusively on old pencil-and-paper practice tests.
Important changes include:
- Online testing for most students
- New technology-enhanced question types
- Reading and writing combined into RLA assessments
- Evidence-based written responses
- More cross-curricular reading passages
- Questions designed to more closely resemble the ways students demonstrate learning in the classroom
TEA also notes that because STAAR is now an online assessment containing technology-enhanced items, PDF versions of its current released tests are no longer provided. Official released assessments can instead be accessed online.
What Types of Questions Are on the STAAR Test?
STAAR is no longer simply a multiple-choice test.
Depending on the grade and subject, students can encounter traditional multiple-choice questions as well as newer question formats that require them to interact with information on the screen or construct an answer themselves.
Examples can include multiselect questions, match-table-grid questions, short constructed responses, extended constructed responses, and multipart questions that ask students to support an answer with evidence.
That is one reason familiarity with the format can be valuable. A student may understand the academic concept but still struggle if too much attention is spent figuring out what an unfamiliar question is asking them to do.
What Skills Does STAAR Measure?
STAAR is aligned with the TEKS taught in Texas classrooms. The exact skills depend on the student’s grade and subject.
Reading Language Arts
Students may need to demonstrate skills such as:
- Understanding literary and informational texts
- Identifying central or main ideas
- Making inferences
- Using text evidence
- Understanding vocabulary in context
- Analyzing an author’s purpose and craft
- Revising and editing
- Constructing written responses based on reading
Mathematics
Students apply grade-appropriate mathematical concepts and problem-solving skills. Depending on grade level, this can include number operations, fractions, decimals, geometry, measurement, algebraic reasoning, proportional relationships, data analysis, and multistep problems.
Science
Science STAAR assessments are administered in Grades 5 and 8, with Biology assessed at the high school level. Importantly, the Grade 5, Grade 8, and Biology assessments were updated for spring 2026 to fully assess Texas’s revised science TEKS.
Social Studies
Grade 8 students take the STAAR Social Studies assessment, while high school students take the U.S. History EOC assessment.
How Is the STAAR Test Scored?
STAAR results are reported using four performance categories:
Masters Grade Level – The student demonstrates mastery of grade-level knowledge and skills and is well prepared for success in the next grade or course.
Meets Grade Level – The student demonstrates strong knowledge of grade-level material and is generally prepared to succeed in the next grade or course.
Approaches Grade Level – The student demonstrates some understanding of grade-level material but may require additional academic support.
Did Not Meet Grade Level – The student has not yet demonstrated sufficient understanding of the assessed grade-level knowledge and skills and will likely need additional support.
Parents can access their child’s STAAR results through their school district’s family portal or through the state’s TexasAssessment.gov system using access information provided by their child’s school. For Spring 2026, TEA made individual Grades 3–8 STAAR score reports available to families in June, with later reporting for the newly updated science assessments.
How Long Does the STAAR Test Take?
STAAR test sessions are generally scheduled for about three to four hours, but students are not necessarily required to finish within that time.
TEA directs schools to allow students who are still working to continue testing, although students ordinarily must complete an assessment during the same school day. A standard testing session cannot exceed seven hours, except for students who qualify for certain designated supports.
Parents should therefore focus less on making children race through practice questions and more on helping them learn to work carefully, efficiently, and independently.
Why Should My Child Practice for STAAR?
Knowing the material is essential—but students also need to know how to demonstrate what they know.
A child who is unfamiliar with online testing or newer question formats may spend valuable mental energy trying to understand the mechanics of a question instead of concentrating on the academic skill being assessed.
Practice can help students learn to:
- Read the entire question before answering
- Identify exactly what a problem is asking
- Eliminate answers that don’t make sense
- Return to a passage to locate supporting evidence
- Work through multistep math problems
- Check answers before moving on
- Respond effectively to constructed-response questions
- Stay focused when questions become challenging
- Become comfortable answering questions in an online environment
The goal shouldn’t be to memorize STAAR questions. It should be to strengthen the underlying academic skills and test-taking strategies your child needs to show what they know.
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How TestingMom Can Help With STAAR Preparation
If your child’s STAAR results have shown weaknesses in reading, writing, math, or reasoning—or you simply want your child to feel more prepared before the next assessment—starting early provides more time to strengthen those skills.
TestingMom offers online practice questions, skill-building activities, educational resources, and personalized tutoring that can help children strengthen many of the abilities they need for state assessments.
With online practice, your child can work consistently on important academic and test-taking skills instead of cramming immediately before the test.
Does Your Child Need More Individual Help?
If your child is struggling in a particular area, one-on-one tutoring may be a better option than simply giving them more questions to answer.
A TestingMom tutor can work directly with your child to identify areas that need additional instruction and practice. This can be especially helpful for students struggling with reading comprehension, written responses, math concepts, multistep problems, or test-taking confidence.
Don’t wait until STAAR testing week to discover where your child needs help. Start practicing now or explore one-on-one tutoring with TestingMom.
Where Can Parents Find Official STAAR Practice Tests?
The Texas Education Agency provides released STAAR test questions and online test forms for parents and students. Because the current STAAR includes online, technology-enhanced questions, practicing with the official online format can be particularly helpful.
Texas Education Agency STAAR Released Test Questions
Parents can use these official materials to understand the current format and then use additional skill-building practice to address areas where their child needs more work.
A Note About STAAR and Private or Homeschool Students
Parents should check the requirements that apply to their child’s particular school. STAAR is principally part of the Texas public-school assessment and accountability system, and testing requirements can differ for charter, private, and homeschool students. Avoid relying on older blanket statements that all charter-school students are exempt; Texas public charter schools participate in the state’s assessment system.
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