STAAR Information for Parents of 3rd-6th Grade Students
May 04, 2022
Next week, on May 10-12, if you have a child in third through sixth grade, they will be taking the Reading, Math and, for fifth grade only, the Science STAAR test. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with some information related to the STAAR test, and hopefully answer some questions you have related to the STAAR test that your child will be taking next week.
The format of the test will be different this year than it has been in the past. The students will be taking the test online, using their Chromebooks. The state provides the option of online or paper testing, and we will be using the online format for our students. The students have been taking practice tests and working on their Chromebooks to prepare for the test, and we feel they will do well on the STAAR test this year.
The STAAR test is important to the school and to the students, but it is only one way we measure academic progress. We want the students to do well, but it does not determine whether they will pass or fail for the year. Students are not retained based on how they perform on the STAAR test. In the past, students in fifth grade could possibly be retained if they failed the assessment, but they also had three opportunities to pass the test.
Beginning with the 2020-21 STAAR test, all students are required to take the test only one time. There is no re-test, but students who do not meet grade level standards are required to attend 30 hours of tutorials during the next school year before taking the next STAAR test in the spring of 2023. The tutoring requirements began this year and will continue in the same manner next year for students who do not meet the standard on the test.
Test results will be shared with you as soon as we have them. Hopefully we will have them before school is out, but it may the first part of June. Regardless, we will get them to you as soon as possible.
We feel confident that the students will do well on this year’s STAAR test. Thank you for your support and encouragement as we all help the students prepare for this important test.
