The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released the 2025 STAAR results for grades 3 through 8, calling them “encouraging” despite large numbers of students still failing to meet grade-level expectations in math and science.
The scores show modest gains in most areas, with the percentage of students meeting grade level increasing by 1 to 5 percentage points over last year. Reading scores were labeled “promising” by TEA, with 49% to 57% of students meeting grade level. The recent scores are slightly above pre-pandemic performance.
“These results are encouraging and reflect the impact of the strategic supports we’ve implemented in recent years,” said Mike Morath, the Education Commissioner. “With RLA scores now surpassing pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing meaningful signs of academic recovery and progress. While this year also saw some improvements in math, clearly more work is needed.”
Math outcomes remained a concern, with just 31% to 45% of students meeting grade level. Science and social studies exposed the same concern, with performance ranging from 29% to 46%. In both reading and math, as many as one-third of students failed to even approach grade level.
Despite TEA sharing an “encouraging” message regarding the results, parents and educators remain skeptical. Critics argue that STAAR places excessive pressure on students, limiting classroom flexibility. Efforts to eliminate STAAR during the 2025 legislative session failed to pass.
House Bill 4, which was authored by state Rep. Brad Buckley (R), would have removed STAAR and replaced it with three shorter assessments that would have been spread through the school year. However, although both chambers agreed that a change was needed, there were disagreements over accountability and state oversight that doomed the effort.
