Why you should watch the STAAR debate this special session

This special session, lawmakers have a chance to do what they nearly accomplished just weeks ago: eliminate the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, better known as the STAAR test, and replace it with something better, shorter and more frequent to allow more opportunity for instruction and make it more useful for students, parents and teachers alike.

In the regular session that ended in June, the Texas Legislature came within hours of passing a bill that would have abolished STAAR as we know it. The proposed replacement? A new system of assessments, still aligned to Texas standards, but shorter, easier to administer and more informative throughout the year. It would have been a major step forward for Texas students and schools.

Now, that opportunity is back on the table. And this time, every parent should be paying close attention.

At stake is not just whether to keep the STAAR test, but what we want student assessments to actually do. There’s a big difference between testing that measures what kids have learned and testing that simply ranks them against each other. Criterion-referenced assessments, like the STAAR today, measure what each student knows against clear academic standards. Every child has the chance to meet expectations if they master the material taught in Texas classrooms, meaning every student has the opportunity to earn an A.

Norm-referenced assessments compare students to each other. They measure kids on a curve, guaranteeing that some will fail, no matter how much they’ve actually learned.

Some are calling for Texas to shift to a norm-referenced model, even suggesting we replace STAAR with a national test. That might sound appealing at first, but it’s a distraction that carries significant consequences.

The importance of testing for grade level

Norm-referenced tests don’t tell parents whether their child is on grade level. They just say whether a child did better or worse than other kids. In the wake of once-in-a-generation learning loss from the COVID pandemic, now is not the time to blind ourselves to whether the next generation of Texans is learning what they need to know for success after graduation.

Given this, it’s clear switching to a nationally norm-referenced test would make it harder to track how schools are doing and whether students are truly ready for college or a career. With less than half of students on grade level, now is not the time to hide the ball on how our students are doing.

Let’s be clear: Texas should improve its assessments. The final draft of the bill that died last session kept criterion-referenced testing at the end of the year but replaced STAAR with shorter, better tests throughout the year. That would give parents and teachers faster feedback, which means faster help for students to succeed if needed. That’s the kind of innovation we need.

And let’s be even more clear: Texas is well served by a test developed here and vetted by Texas teachers. Abandoning this Texas instrument in favor of a national norm-referenced exam would be a serious mistake.

If students can’t read or do basic math, nothing else matters. We need assessments that measure what kids actually know, so we can help them improve.

Texas parents deserve to know: Are public schools doing their job? Are students learning what they need? Or are we about to replace real information with a system that disguises the problem?

We can’t afford to get this wrong. Every parent, educator and policymaker should keep a close eye on what happens next.

This op-ed was first published in the Dallas Morning News (July 30, 2025)