The Texas Education Agency today released preliminary math and reading scores for fifth- and eighth-grade students on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

Students were required to answer more questions correctly this year in order to pass.

Preliminary STAAR passing rates as reported to HISD are as follows. These are the initial percentages reported to HISD, and the state has not updated the calculations to include any data HISD schools received piecemeal after April 19.

Fifth Grade Reading: 64%

Fifth Grade Math: 72%

Eighth Grade Reading: 73%

Eighth Grade Math: 64%

HISD has joined with other Houston-region districts raising concerns about this year’s administration of the STAAR. Earlier this month, HISD was among 50 school districts in the region to report issues with shipping and receiving of testing materials, online testing, and document coding caused by the private testing company that Texas has hired to administer STAAR.

HISD data analysts discovered that the district score summary supplied by the testing company was missing approximately 1,600 reading and 1,400 math records for eighth-graders and 200 records in both reading and math for fifth-graders.  Five campuses did not initially receive any data from the regular STAAR testing. The TEA has informed HISD that the final complete files for all schools and districts will be posted by May 5.

Under state law, Texas students in grades 5 and 8 must pass the STAAR reading and math tests to be promoted to the next grade. Students who did not pass these exams have the opportunity to retake the tests in mid-May and will have a third opportunity in June. State law requires students who do not pass these tests to be retained in their current grade – unless a parent appeals the retention and a local, campus-based grade placement committee unanimously agrees to promote them.