EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A bill that originally died in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session is back for the 2025 special session – and it can impact around 120,000 students across El Paso County.
The proposal to reform the STAAR assessment was introduced by a number of representatives to be taken up again during the special session, including Rep. Mary E. González (D-San Elizario).
“For years, we have all heard the horror stories of young students shutting down at the thought of taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test. This session, we have the opportunity to address these issues and create a better, more comprehensive testing curriculum that benefits all students in Texas,” González said in a news release.
Under the proposal, lawmakers are requesting the adoption of a testing system that would report academic growth by administering tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year to measure a student’s performance.
The bill also requests that this system be implemented no later than the 2027-2028 school year.
The STAAR test is a standardized exam that is given to students across the state. It is based on Texas curriculum standards in core subjects to measure what students are learning in each grade and determines whether or not they are ready to advance to the next grade.
The Texas Education Agency determined performance levels on four different scales:
- Masters Grade Level
- Meets Grade Level
- Approaches Grade Level
- Did Not Meet Grade Level
These results are used as part of a school’s A-F accountability system, which rates schools and districts based on academic performance and success rates.
When asked about the possible changes, students at Franklin High School had mixed opinions about the legislation.
“I do kind of like the STAAR test because then it kind of puts it to the test that if you actually learn things and I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone thinks… but I believe that we should do like three shorter tests, because then it kind of like it’s like, oh, it’s a refresher” Fatima S., a senior, said.
Sharing that same feeling is Matias, also a senior who said: “I’d rather do the three shorter ones. The longer one’s kind of just, they’re just really tiring. It’s not that I get nervous. I just get really bored and really tired midway through the tests.”
“I think the star test is pretty good, because it helps you see how much you learn in the whole year. That’s why I feel like we should keep this like this instead of having three exams, because then you have to study for each of them when you could just study for one,” Diego, a freshman, said.
As students across the state wait to learn their future testing schedules, votes on the special agenda still remain in limbo.
The session cannot move forward while more than 50 House Democrats remain out of state to break quorum.
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