Amidst the start of a new school year, the House overwhelmingly passed House Bill (HB) 8 on Thursday, Sept. 3, in a 79-47 vote. This controversial bill aims to replace the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests — cumulative testing administered at the end of every year for each core class — with a new system of periodic assessments throughout the school year. While some view the new bill as a step away from the cumbersome test that failed to accurately measure student achievement, others argue that the bill expands testing rather than reducing it.
One of the key implementations of HB 8 is the mandation of beginning-of-year, middle-of-year, and end-of-year assessments, meaning local districts can no longer issue STAAR Interim Assessments, also known as benchmarks, to prepare students for the STAAR exam. Previously, benchmarks were not mandated by the state, but if implemented by the district, they could give teachers insight about students’ skill level to guide them accordingly in preparation for the final STAAR exam. The senators voted to remove these practice tests in order to reclaim lost instructional time.
“Benchmarks are usually low stakes and are a good way to test knowledge. I do see how they can be helpful for teachers,” Lasya Medikonduru ‘28 said. “We usually only have around two a year as well, so I don’t think removing them makes space for a lot more [instructional] activity.”
The original draft of HB 8 attempted to scale back the state’s testing requirements to only those mandated by federal law. This included an annual English and math test from grades 3-8 and an annual science test for selective grades. However, the Senate created an amended version to reverse that effort, making significant modifications to testing and accountability policies. The revised bill was approved by the House. The new system is promoted as a more holistic approach to assessing student growth while preserving the high-stakes structure.
“In elementary and middle school, STAAR tests were definitely one of the more stressful parts of the year,” Sailee Chitari ‘28 said. “However, I’d prefer having just one test at the end of the year rather than having multiple tests throughout. The new system could be [even] more stressful for some students.”
While standardized testing is more frequent under HB 8, the first two tests will also be adaptive, introducing an approach that tailors the level of difficulty of specific questions to students based on their performance in prior sections of the test. Under this proposal, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will be required to return test scores two days after the test administration window closes, ensuring students will know where they stand almost immediately — a sharp contrast to the lengthy waiting time for results from previous STAAR exams.
“[In the past], by the time we got our STAAR test results back, it was the middle of the summer and I forgot my thought process for answering the questions,” Chitari said. “Because these tests will be more frequent, it’s good they’re giving results back earlier. Getting the test back sooner means I’ll know what I got wrong, so I would practice those topics more. I would also have a better opportunity of improving the next time I took the test.”
Despite these significant changes, the legislation still promotes the high-stakes structure of the widely opposed test. Critics of the STAAR test have argued that the assessment places unnecessary stress on students and teachers while failing to accommodate for different learning needs. Even under HB 8, the standardized testing results will continue to be measured by TEA’s A-F accountability system, an approach that assigns letter grades to Texas schools and districts based on student achievement, progress, and learning gaps. Regardless of the testing changes, the STAAR exams will still carry the same sizable weight when it comes to driving school ratings.
“Just because the test may look different doesn’t mean that the pressure necessarily goes away,” Aanya Pathak ‘28 said. “The scores still seem to matter and affect how the school is judged, even though the new version is supposed to be more fair.”
Additionally, HB 8 removes the ability of school districts and communities to legally challenge accountability ratings in court, unearthing a heavy dispute. Communities whose budgets are based on these accountability ratings have criticized the bill as an elimination of state power and a dismissal of locally elected school boards.
“If the state gets to decide everything, it feels like they’re ignoring what’s best for the schools and the voice of the people running them,” Medikonduru said.
The full implementation of the system is expected to begin in the 2027-28 school year following two years of beta testing. However, some components of the accountability system will not go into effect until later. In the meantime, students, teachers, and parents are left navigating through a period of transition. While some consider HB 8 as a more equitable approach to public education, debate persists over whether this bill represents meaningful reform or simply repackages the same principles of STAAR under a new name.
“Even though the system is shown to be different, [the pressure] still seems to be the same,” Chitari said. “Students will still be dealing with the same struggle to reach a benchmark. They are changing the presentation, not the impact.”
