Houston’s STAAR Results, Explained: Q&A from Our June 26 Webinar
On June 26, more than 150 educators, advocates, district partners, and community members joined Good Reason Houston for STAAR Test 2026 Results: What They Mean for Houston Students. Patrick Gill, Director of Research and Data Strategy; Mingyu Lu, Ph.D., Manager of Research and Data Strategy; and Trista Bishop-Watt, Managing Director of Government Relations, walked attendees through the regional results and the questions Houston should be asking next.
The conversation didn’t stop when the webinar ended. Below, we’ve compiled written responses to questions submitted during the session.
Watch the full webinar recording →
Scope of Data and Methodology
What does Good Reason Houston consider the “Houston Region”?
Good Reason Houston’s geographic footprint includes 11 independent school districts, along with any charter campuses that fall within their boundaries. Our data analysis reflects this view of the Houston Region.
What data is being used for the year-over-year comparison? Is it the 2024–25 Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) data?
Our STAAR analysis is based on STAAR scores available through the Texas Education Agency’s research portal. This data includes all STAAR test-takers, which is slightly different from the STAAR data available through TAPR. The STAAR Portal includes all tested students, while TAPR only includes students in the accountability subset — those counted toward A-F accountability by virtue of being enrolled at the campus or district on both the October PEIMS snapshot date and the testing date.
This is preliminary STAAR data. Is the Texas Research Portal data updated or finalized at a later date?
Finalized STAAR data will be available July 17, 2026 for end-of-course exams and July 31, 2026 for grades 3–8. Good Reason Houston updates our analysis based on finalized data, although regional and state-level results typically do not change significantly given the scale at those levels.
How many students opt out of STAAR?
Good Reason Houston has not reviewed STAAR participation rates for 2026, but historical data is available in Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) under STAAR Participation. Since 2022, STAAR participation in Region 4 has been at 99%.
Equating
Why does it take different numbers of correct questions to get the same score each year? Why doesn’t Texas keep raw cutscores stable year over year?
In testing, equating is the process of balancing test question difficulty so that scores are comparable across test forms and administrations. Because there are small variances in the difficulty of questions from year to year, statistical work must be done to ensure comparisons are fair.
Raw scores — the number of points scored or questions answered correctly — are not comparable between test administrations because they don’t account for question difficulty. Raw scores are converted to scale scores that do factor in that difficulty. As a result, some tests are slightly easier than others, and it takes more correct questions to achieve the same scale score in a given year. Equating is what makes year-over-year comparisons meaningful.
For more on how equating works, see:
TEKS Changes
How will changes to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the new state-required reading lists impact testing?
The Texas State Board of Education sets the learning standards that outline what students are expected to know and be able to do in each subject and grade level. These standards are updated periodically to reflect evolving expectations for student learning. A 2023 state law required new vocabulary and reading lists to be added to English Language Arts standards. When learning standards change, state assessments are updated as well, so they continue to measure what students are being taught in Texas classrooms.
Science Results
When are results for 5th and 8th grade science being released, and why was there a delay?
Texas recently updated the Science TEKS, which impacted the content taught in 5th and 8th grade science. To ensure assessments accurately reflect the updated content and maintain consistent performance expectations, TEA is conducting a standard-setting process. Combined science results for grades 5 and 8 are expected to be released on July 31, 2026.
Why did the Biology EOC change?
The update to state science standards also impacted Biology. To match those changes, the Biology End-of-Course exam was updated so it measures the knowledge and skills students are learning in today’s classrooms across Texas.
Emergent Bilingual Students
Is there any research comparing TELPAS results with Reading Language Arts STAAR performance for emergent bilingual students? Are there any observable trends?
The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) measures how well emergent bilingual students are developing English language skills and helps schools determine when students no longer need English language support services.
Good Reason Houston has not conducted our own analysis comparing TELPAS and STAAR results, but we will explore opportunities to further integrate emergent bilingual data in our future work. In the meantime, the Houston Education Research Consortium has published research on bilingual education and student outcomes after students exit English language support services.
Curriculum and Instruction
With the gains in the latest STAAR data, what trends or best practices are you seeing around motivation, mindset, or emotional readiness that supported this academic growth?
We have seen strong gains in districts focused on high-quality daily instruction — centering teaching on grade-level expectations while differentiating support based on student readiness, or extending learning based on assessed mastery. By providing “just-right” scaffolding, more students are able to access challenging content and grow. This shift takes investment not only in high-quality materials and research-based strategies, but also in aligning instructional vision and systems — including teacher professional learning and coaching — to ensure educators are fully equipped to plan, adjust, and deliver instruction that meets their students’ needs.
Beyond traditional assessments, are there other ways schools can better understand how students think, solve problems, and learn?
A powerful complement to traditional assessment is strengthening daily formative practices. While summative data like STAAR shows us where students landed, daily formative checks — both formal and informal — reveal how students are thinking, allowing teachers to catch misconceptions in real time. Some districts use proficiency standards and rubrics to track these daily insights and identify specific learning needs much earlier. By embedding quick checks directly into rigorous daily materials, educators can deploy the right supports to keep learning on track.
For a deeper look at this year’s results, read our full STAAR analysis:
