The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released correspondence regarding the changes made by HB 8 (89-2), that replaced the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) with the Student Success Tool (SST) beginning in the 2027-2028 school year.
TEA has made several resources available on the House Bill 8 webpage. Assessment blueprints, scoring rubrics, and reporting prototype examples are now available. Additionally, the HB 8 FAQ page has been updated.
HB 8 required TEA to establish a commissioner-approved list of alternative assessments that may be used to satisfy BOY and MOY assessment requirements. TEA is currently completing its review of submitted alternative BOY and MOY assessment options. The list of approved alternative assessments is expected to be published by October 2026.
Additionally, TEA announced in May of this year that they will administer a required stand-alone field test February 1-5, 2027, to support development of future SST assessments. As required by state law, selected campuses are expected to participate in field-testing activities. Results will be used exclusively for assessment development purposes and will not be reported for student performance purposes. Districts will be notified of their selected campuses on August 21, 2027.
The full correspondence can be found here.
