TEA releases STAAR results for grades 3-8

Editor’s Note: The percentages of students do not equal 100% due to overlap with students under multiple performance levels.

This week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released the spring State of Texas Academic Readiness (STAAR) results for students in grades 3-8, which was delayed. Included are results for mathematics and Reading Language Arts (RLA) in grades 3-8, science in 5th and 8th grades and social studies for 8th grade.

STAAR exams are graded on four performance levels which from highest to lowest are Masters Grade Level, Meets Grade Level, Approaches Grade Level and Did Not Meet Grade Level. Parents or guardians can receive a unique access code from the school and will be able to view their child’s individual results by visiting texasassessment.gov.

Graham ISD Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Gary Browning, sent a notice to parents and guardians in May regarding access to spring STAAR/EOC exam results being delayed from the state. TEA released 2023 STAAR results for end-of-course (EOC) assessments at the end of June.

The delay was due to the redesign of the exams and the state accountability system. The redesign, which was included for the 2022-2023 school year, includes online testing, new question types, cross-curricular passages and evidence-based writing.

“The STAAR test changed pretty significantly, from 2022 to 2023, with the test, in some cases, being much longer than it was before. So it's increased in length. ...For grades three through eight RLA, the increased length of the test was between 12 and 18 additional questions. In math, there were an additional five or six questions in grades three through eight,” Browning said Wednesday. “So I believe that third grade actually had 14 more questions than they did the previous year. So that test is getting really long and that kind of goes against what they had tried to do in the past, which is streamline the test and make it shorter so that students can complete it in four hours, which is still a long time for a third grader.”

Browning said it was more of an interactive exam this year and not just multiple choice. Short response questions were added to subjects other than the RLA exam. Due to the number of changes, Browning said comparing results can be a challenge.

“It's hard for us to compare our exact results from 2022 to 2023, because the test is so much different and the test had an impact on the performance of the students,” he said. “It's also difficult for us to compare ourselves in cohorts of students, like how students scored in third grade, as opposed to fourth grade, because of those changes.”

The biggest areas of decline for the district were in the performance of third grade students in the RLA and mathematics exams. GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse said there are a number of factors which could contribute to those scores.

“I think we lost a very strong principle, we had a principal transition and then we then had a new, inexperienced team. Because that was almost a brand new third grade team. There's no doubt that made an impact,” he said. “…(There's) some things we’ve got to get back to doing that we were doing before, that probably slid back last year because of lack of leadership and lack of direction.”

STAAR Results

Reading 3rd Grade
According to the 3rd grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 145 students tested, 11% (16 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 32% (47 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 72% (105 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 28% (40 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 3rd Grade
According to the 3rd grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 148 students tested, 7% (11 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 32% (48 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 64% (95 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 36% (53 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Reading 4th Grade
According to the 4th grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 144 students tested, 23% (33 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 47% (68 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 84% (121 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 16% (23 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 4th Grade
According to the 4th grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 144 students tested, 26% (37 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 44% (63 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 68% (98 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 32% (46 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Reading 5th Grade
According to the 5th grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 166 students tested, 28% (46 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 56% (93 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 81% (134 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 19% (32 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 5th Grade
According to the 5th grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 166 students tested, 23% (39 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 58% (96 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 87% (145 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 13% (21 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Science 5th Grade
According to the 5th grade science results from spring 2023, of the 166 students tested, 19% (31 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 34% (57 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 62% (103 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 38% (63 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Reading 6th Grade
According to the 6th grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 165 students tested, 10% (17 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 44% (73 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 72% (118 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 28% (47 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 6th Grade
According to the 6th grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 167 students tested, 12% (20 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 33% (55 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 69% (115 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 31% (52 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Reading 7th Grade
According to the 7th grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 165 students tested, 19% (31 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 41% (68 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 78% (130 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 22% (37 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 7th Grade
According to the 7th grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 168 students tested, 15% (26 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 48% (80 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 70% (117 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 30% (51 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Reading 8th Grade
According to the 8th grade reading results from spring 2023, of the 198 students tested, 21% (41 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 48% (96 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 81% (161 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 19% (37 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Mathematics 8th Grade
According to the 8th grade mathematics results from spring 2023, of the 180 students tested, 14% (26 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 53% (95 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 82% (147 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 18% (33 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Science 8th Grade
According to the 8th grade science results from spring 2023, of the 198 students tested, 16% (31 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 41% (81 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 76% (150 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 24% (48 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.

Social Studies 8th Grade
According to the 8th grade social studies results from spring 2023, of the 196 students tested, 19% (38 students) were in the Masters Grade Level, 33% (65 students) were in the Meets Grade Level, 66% (129 students) were in the Approaches Grade Level and 34% (67 students) were in the Did Not Meet Grade Level.