AUSTIN — State school exams for high school students “show progress” and “continued academic recovery” as they recover from multiple years of learning loss spurred by the pandemic, state officials said.
The Texas Education Agency released the spring 2023 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results for end-of-course assessments on Friday. The results include assessments in Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology and U.S. History.
“I appreciate the dedication and skill of Texas educators as they work to meet the needs of their students every day,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.
Students approaching grade level or above in Biology, English I, English II, and U.S. History eclipsed pre-pandemic levels. In addition, results in Biology mark the largest year-over-year gain in this performance category, increasing seven percentage points to 89% of test takers, data shows.
In Algebra I, 78% of test takers approached grade level, six percentage points below the 2019, pre-pandemic high water mark of 84% but representing a 4% increase over 2022, it said.
Results remained positive for students served in Special Education and students who are Emergent Bilingual. Officials said intensive tutoring support and robust online accommodations afforded by the STAAR redesign helped continue this trend. The number of students served in these two areas saw an increase in meeting grade level or remained steady across all subjects. Emergent Bilingual students saw the biggest increase in English I and II, rising five percentage points in grade level proficiency, data shows.
The 2023 EOC exams are the first following a STAAR exam redesign to better align with classroom instruction. This year also marked the first year the tests were administered almost exclusively online, with exceptions made for students requiring paper accommodations and students with special education accommodations, officials said.
“STAAR is designed to provide parents and teachers with a clear understanding of how well students learned this year’s academic material and whether they are prepared for the next grade level and for life after graduation,” Morath said.
“Working with the input of many Texas teachers, we have redesigned the STAAR test to look more like how students learn in the classroom. We celebrate these results, and also recognize they provide objective information for parents and educators for the year to come,” he added.
After receiving the unique access code from their child’s school, parents and families will be able to view their child’s individual EOC results by visiting TexasAssessment.gov. STAAR 3-8 scores will be available for families on Aug.16.