STAAR Test Changes: The Ultimate 7-Point Guide for Worried Parents

The STAAR test changes are now law: Texas gives its last STAAR test for grades 3–8 in spring 2027, and a new program called the Student Success Tool replaces it in the 2027–28 school year. Your child still takes STAAR this school year, so both the old test and the new one matter to your family right now.

This guide covers the seven points parents ask about most: what the STAAR test changes are, when STAAR ends, how the new tests work, what parents will see, what three tests a year can and cannot show, what to do in the final STAAR year, and what Texas has not decided yet. Every date and rule below comes from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the state agency that runs testing in Texas public schools.

One point first. The STAAR test changes do not cancel this year’s testing. STAAR runs as usual in December 2026 and spring 2027, with only small changes to how it is given.

What are the STAAR test changes coming to Texas schools?

The STAAR test changes come from House Bill 8 (HB 8), a law Governor Abbott signed in September 2025. HB 8 repeals STAAR and replaces it with a new testing program, called the Student Success Tool in the law, starting in the 2027–28 school year. Students in grades 3–8 will take three tests a year instead of one: a beginning-of-year test, a middle-of-year test and an end-of-year test.

The STAAR test changes reach other tests too. Spanish-language tests in grades 3–5 follow the same three-test pattern. End-of-course (EOC) exams continue in Algebra I, Biology, English I and U.S. History, and for those four courses the beginning- and middle-of-year tests are optional.

HB 8 sets four design rules for the new tests. Each test must be shorter than STAAR. The beginning- and middle-of-year tests adapt to each student. The end-of-year test stays fixed, so its questions can be released to parents and teachers. Schools receive results within two business days after a testing window closes.

Those four rules explain the STAAR test changes parents will notice first: shorter sittings, results during the school year, and a final test whose questions you can read afterwards. For a child in grades 3–8 today, the STAAR test changes mean one more spring of STAAR, then a September test in the new system.

When does STAAR end, and which grades does it affect?

STAAR ends for grades 3–8 after the spring 2027 tests, and the last STAAR end-of-course exams run in December 2027. TEA confirmed both dates when it released the 2027–28 testing calendar. Any child in grades 3–8 this school year sits STAAR one final time in spring 2027.

That spring sitting is the last STAAR record a grade 3–8 student will have before the STAAR test changes take full effect. Its result still reaches the family portal like any other STAAR score.

This school year still runs on the familiar STAAR calendar, and none of the STAAR test changes move its dates. High school students in the December 2026 end-of-course window finish any make-up tests by December 11, 2026. Spring STAAR testing falls in April 2027 windows, and the last spring make-ups close April 30, 2027. A June 2027 window follows.

Here is the order of the STAAR test changes on a family calendar:

• December 2026: STAAR end-of-course window, with make-ups closing December 11, 2026.
• April 2027: spring STAAR windows, the final STAAR for grades 3–8.
• December 2027: the last STAAR end-of-course administration.
• September 2027: the first beginning-of-year Student Success Tool test, in general timing.

What happens to end-of-course exams?

The English II end-of-course exam ends in 2027–28, both as a test and as a graduation requirement. Students in the graduating classes of 2026 and 2027 still need the STAAR English II exam to graduate. TEA has said it will publish testing rules for the class of 2028 and later at a future date.

For a high school student, the STAAR test changes depend on graduation year. A senior in the class of 2027 still sits English II under the old rules; a freshman in the class of 2030 waits for TEA’s new graduation rules. Check the class year on your child’s transcript before assuming any exam has gone away.

How will the Student Success Tool test my child during the year?

The Student Success Tool tests students in grades 3–8 three times a year: in September, in January or February, and in May. The September and January–February tests are adaptive, so each question depends on how the student answered earlier questions. The May test is one fixed form for every student, so TEA can release all of its questions afterward.

Under the STAAR test changes, a school year carries three testing seasons instead of one. Reading and language arts adds a fourth date: the writing section, which includes open-ended answers, runs separately in April.

TEA’s spring 2026 design update gives the clearest picture of test length so far. It describes each testing event as up to 30% shorter than a STAAR test, with reading passages about half as long as STAAR passages. The same update says the adaptive tests adjust to each student’s mastery of the TEKS, the state standards taught in class.

Will my child spend more time testing overall?

TEA has not settled this yet. Your child will sit three testing events a year instead of one, and TEA describes each event as up to 30% shorter than a STAAR test. TEA has not yet published a total testing time for a full year under the new system, and its transition plan to lawmakers is due February 15, 2027.

Until TEA publishes that number, treat any claim that the STAAR test changes mean less testing, or more, as a guess. What is fixed is the pattern: shorter sittings, spread across September, January or February, April for writing, and May.

What does an adaptive test look like for a child?

An adaptive test chooses each question from the student’s answers to the questions before it. TEA explains that this lets the test run faster with fewer questions, and that each student sees a different set of questions as a result. Two classmates sitting side by side in September will not see the same screen.

For parents, the biggest of the STAAR test changes is timing. Schools receive results within two business days after each window closes, while the teacher still has months of the year left to act on them. Under STAAR, the single spring score arrives near the end of the school year.

TEA built the fixed May test so parents and teachers can read every released question, one of the STAAR test changes aimed directly at families. Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities take only the May test, not the September or January–February tests, so the STAAR test changes look different for them.

What will parents see that they cannot see now?

Texas schools must give parents access to the Texas Assessment Family Portal through the school’s own parent portal. Schools must also notify parents each time new state test results are ready. Both rules came from HB 8 and began in the 2025–26 school year, before the new tests arrive.

Three of the STAAR test changes reach parents directly: portal access, a notice with every result, and released May questions. The portal rule is one of the STAAR test changes already in effect, so Texas parents can log in to see this year’s STAAR results through the same route.

Under the Student Success Tool, a results notice follows each of the three tests, not one test in spring. A September notice tells you where your child started the year. A January or February notice tells you what moved since September. A May notice closes the year.

The released May questions add a second view. You can sit with your child, open the exact question they missed, and see what it asked for: the main idea of a reading passage, say, or one step in a multi-step problem. A score tells you a child missed points. A released question tells you which skill the points were for.

HB 8 also told TEA to add instructions that ease test anxiety. Starting in 2025–26, TEA rewrote the on-screen directions students read and the script test administrators read aloud before a STAAR test begins. Find your district’s portal login before the spring 2027 results arrive; the portal is where the STAAR test changes first become visible to a family.

Does testing three times a year give a fuller picture of a child?

Three tests a year give a more frequent picture of a child, not a wider one. Each Student Success Tool test still measures what a student knows in an academic subject, through answers given on a screen or on paper. A child who reasons well out loud, rebuilds a model that broke, or leads a team shows those strengths nowhere on the new tests.

A state test does a different job. It exists to check that every child reaches the same academic floor, the TEKS, in every district. Texas public schools deliver that floor, and the new tests check it more often and report it faster than STAAR did.

The STAAR test changes answer an old complaint about timing. A September result that shows a gap in one skill gives a teacher four months before the January test to close it. Under STAAR, the same gap showed up once, in a spring score reported near the end of the year.

No part of the STAAR test changes adds a new kind of evidence. The same academic channel gets sampled three times instead of once. A child who practises one kind of test gets better at that kind of test, and that kind only.

Three results in one subject do give you something STAAR never did: a line instead of a dot. Lay the September, January and May results for one subject side by side. A score that climbs between September and January tells you the gap is closing. A score that stays flat across both tests is the signal to talk with the teacher in February, while three months of school remain, not in June. Read the STAAR test changes this way at home.

A full picture of a child adds evidence from other channels: how the child explains a decision, recovers after a mistake, and works with other people on a shared build. Teachers see much of this every day, and no score records it. Read each result under the STAAR test changes as one data point on one channel, and keep the other channels in view.

What should Frisco families do during the last STAAR year?

A Frisco child in grades 3–8 this year sits STAAR one last time in spring 2027, and that result still reaches the family portal like any STAAR score before it. The STAAR test changes leave spring 2027 untouched. Families who find their child’s gaps now have about five months of school before the April windows to work on them.

Families planning around the STAAR test changes have two decisions this year. The first is how to approach the final STAAR in spring 2027. The second comes next fall, when the first September test under the STAAR test changes arrives. Treat the last STAAR year as a baseline, so the new system starts from a known point.

• Log in to your district’s parent portal and open last spring’s STAAR results, if your child tested in grade 3 or above last year.
• Ask your child’s teacher which skills the spring 2027 test covers in each tested subject at your child’s grade.
• Pick one subject and one skill gap to work on before winter break, not five at once.
• Keep test week ordinary: the usual bedtime, the usual breakfast, and no new routines the night before.

For families who want structured help with that final sitting, the STAAR test prep program at Big Brainbox offers TEKS-aligned STAAR tutoring for grades 3–8, in a one-on-one or five-to-one format, one to three sessions a week (as of 21-Oct-2026). Big Brainbox works alongside your child’s school, not in place of it: the TEKS your child’s teacher covers are the same standards the tutoring works from.

Families not ready to commit to a program can start smaller. The Big Brainbox skill-based learning assessment looks at one subject at a time and shows what a child already knows and where the gaps sit. It takes 45–60 minutes per subject, costs nothing, and comes with a written report within 48 hours (all as of 21-Oct-2026). It is not a pass/fail test, and booking one carries no obligation to enroll in anything.

What should families of high school students do?

High school families face a different set of STAAR test changes, sorted by graduation year. Check the class year first. A student in the class of 2026 or 2027 still needs the STAAR English II exam to graduate, so that exam stays on the plan. A student taking Algebra I, English I, Biology or U.S. History this year sits an end-of-course STAAR in December 2026 or spring 2027 under the current rules. A student in the class of 2028 or later waits for TEA’s new graduation testing rules before making any plan around English II.

What is still undecided about the STAAR test changes?

Texas has set the outline of the new tests but not every detail. TEA must send the legislature a transition plan by February 15, 2027, and that plan must include feedback from parents, students and teachers. Lawmakers meeting in spring 2027 can still adjust the program before it starts in 2027–28.

Three other questions remain open. TEA has not yet published graduation testing rules for the class of 2028 and later. TEA must also build a through-year growth measure, for the grades that take the beginning- and middle-of-year tests, for possible use in a future refresh of the A–F school ratings. And details on a commissioner-approved list of alternative assessments are still being posted.

TEA keeps a House Bill 8 page with its latest frequently asked questions and design updates, most recently revised in August 2026. Expect the next round of STAAR test changes news after February 15, 2027, when the transition plan reaches lawmakers. Until then, the STAAR test changes give parents firm dates and an open middle: the first September test is set, and the details inside it are still being written.

Sources

1. Texas Education Agency. (2025, October 23). Overview of House Bill 8 [To the Administrator Addressed correspondence]. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
2. Texas Education Agency. (2026, March 19). School Year 2027–28 Student Assessment Testing Calendar [To the Administrator Addressed correspondence]. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
3. Texas Education Agency, Student Assessment Division. (2026). 2026–2027 Student Assessment Testing Calendar. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
4. Texas Education Agency. (2026). Spring 2026 House Bill 8 Assessment Updates, Event #1296 [Presentation slides]. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
5. Texas Education Agency, Department of Assessment and Reporting. (2025, October). House Bill 8 Frequently Asked Questions. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
6. Texas Education Agency, Student Assessment Division. (2026, August 20). HB 8 Update and Resources [To the Administrator Addressed correspondence]. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
7. Texas Education Agency. (2026). House Bill 8: Student Assessment . Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.
8. Texas Education Agency. (2026, August). Texas Assessment Program Reporting Dates, 2026–2027 School Year. Austin, TX: Texas Education Agency.