{"id":339074,"date":"2026-06-16T23:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339074\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:29:19","slug":"texas-students-saw-slight-gains-in-math-stalled-progress-in-reading-staar-results-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339074\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas students saw slight gains in math, stalled progress in reading, STAAR results show"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas (The Texas Tribune<\/a>) \u2014 Texas elementary and middle school students mostly stagnated in reading this school year, while their performance on math and social studies exams improved, according to STAAR results released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Texas Education Agency published results from the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, for grades 3\u20138, which aim to measure whether students learn material in core subjects at levels appropriate for their grade. High school results\u00a0released last week<\/a>\u00a0showed gains in all areas.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s results show children making some progress but that more work remains, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are encouraged by continued gains in mathematics,\u201d Morath said, \u201cespecially with the growing number of students participating and succeeding in advanced mathematics courses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state tests showed that 49% of third graders scored on grade level in reading \u2014 a 1-percentage-point decline from last year. Fourth through sixth grades remained flat at 52%, 57% and 54%, respectively. And 54% of seventh graders met grade-level expectations \u2014 a 2-percentage-point increase \u2014 while eighth graders improved from 56% to 59%.<\/p>\n

Texas Education Agency releases spring 2026 STAAR results for grades 3-8 <\/a><\/p>\n

Students\u2019 overall performance in reading continues to surpass pre-COVID levels.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, students posted math gains in almost every grade \u2014 except for third and seventh graders, who experienced no change and a 2-point decline, respectively. In social studies, 32% of eighth graders met grade level \u2014 a 2-point increase.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s results come after state lawmakers passed a slate of laws aimed at improving classroom instruction, including a ban on cellphones in public schools \u2014 which Morath credited for the gains in middle school reading.<\/p>\n

The STAAR exam also tests fifth and eighth graders in science. Agency officials said they plan to release those results on July 31.<\/p>\n

In addition to providing families a snapshot into whether Texas children possess the academic skills appropriate for their grade level, STAAR results also play an outsized role in state academic accountability ratings.<\/p>\n

Districts with a school that has five consecutive failing ratings face the commissioner replacing the locally elected school board and superintendent. The schools most often meeting that threshold educate\u00a0predominantly Black, Hispanic and low-income<\/a>\u00a0students \u2014 including in Houston, Fort Worth and Beaumont.<\/p>\n

Three years under state control, Houston progressed and either met or exceeded Texas\u2019 overall\u00a0performance in reading and math while lagging in social studies. Other districts recently taken over \u2014 including Beaumont, Connally, Fort Worth and Lake Worth \u2014 experienced gains but still trailed the state in most areas.<\/p>\n

Districts under threat of a takeover include Austin, where Hispanic children make up more than half of the students. The three campuses that could trigger its state intervention\u00a0improved across math and reading<\/a>\u00a0this year. However, the overwhelming majority of those schools\u2019 students still did not meet grade-level standards on STAAR.<\/p>\n

The education agency releases school accountability ratings in August.<\/p>\n

Texas is phasing out the STAAR for three shorter tests that students will take at the beginning, middle and end of each school year. Schools will begin administering the new exams in the 2027-28 academic year.<\/p>\n

The move to replace STAAR was a response to criticisms from families and teachers who say the tests put too much pressure on children and that preparing for it takes up too much class time. State lawmakers also\u00a0condemned<\/a>\u00a0STAAR, saying it is not an accurate measure of student learning and that it sets children up for failure.<\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune<\/a>\u00a0is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans \u2014 and engages with them \u2014 about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas (The Texas Tribune) \u2014 Texas elementary and middle school students mostly stagnated in reading this school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30188,7395,91218,31017,1049,27,2810,29,28,3602],"class_list":["post-339074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-grade-level","tag-mike-morath","tag-social-studies","tag-staar","tag-students","tag-texas","tag-texas-education-agency","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-tribune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}