In a major shift for public education in Texas, the State Senate passed House Bill 8 on Wednesday. The legislation will begin the process of phasing out the controversial State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. The bill who was authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), received strong backing from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who issued a statement following its passage.
“We are very close to the end in replacing the STAAR test,” Bettencourt said.
Patrick, who also serves as President of the Senate, celebrated the bill as a long-awaited reform aimed at reducing what he called an outdated and ineffective approach to student assessment.
“For far too long, Texas students and teachers have been burdened by the STAAR test, a cumbersome one-size-fits-all assessment that fails to actually measure student educational achievement,” Patrick said in a statement released Thursday morning. “HB 8 is a victory for Texas parents, educators, and most importantly, students.”
House Bill 8 will gradually eliminate the STAAR test and replace it with a new system focused on tracking student growth and improving overall educational outcomes, according to Patrick. Specific details on the new assessment model have not yet been released.
The bill now moves to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for signature. If signed into law, Texas would join other states moving away from standardized testing as the primary measure of student achievement.
Critics of the STAAR test have long argued that it places undue stress on students and teachers, narrows the curriculum, and fails to account for diverse learning styles and challenges. Supporters of the phase-out see HB 8 as a step toward a more holistic and equitable approach to public education.
The timeline for full implementation of the new assessment system remains to be announced, pending further guidance from the Texas Education Agency.
Speaking from the Senate floor on Wednesday, Bettencourt said the exam will be replaced with “three shorter assessments, beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year, starting in the 2027-2028 school year.”
“The first two tests are going to automated item level so you can get information back to students and teachers within 48 hours, so they’ll know where they stand, immediately.” said Bettencourt. “The teachers will be developing the assessment and returned classroom instruction time by reducing the overall testing time and limiting the number of benchmarks that can be administered in the education committee.”
The senator claims that the current STAAR test disrupts learning by effectively halting instruction the week before the exam. He added that an estimated 92.5 million instructional hours could be restored to the education system if changes are made.
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