A new student testing program goes live during the spring 2012 semester. The new program is called the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR™. It replaces the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).

The basics
STAAR will be given to students in grades 3-8 and to students taking high school level courses in the four core subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Students will typically spend two to five days out of the 180-day school year taking the STAAR tests. Additional testing days will be available for students who must pass the test to be promoted to the next grade or to graduate from high school.

• 3rd Grade - Reading (April 25) & Math (April 24)
• 4th Grade - Reading (April 25), Math (April 24) & Writing (March 27 & 28)
• 5th Grade - Reading (March 28), Math (March 27) & Science (April 26)
• 6th Grade - Reading (April 25) & Math (April 24)
• 7th Grade - Reading (April 25), Math (April 24) & Writing (March 27 & 28)
• 8th Grade - Reading (March 28), Math (March 27), Science (April 26) & Social Studies (April 27)
• High School - English I (March 26 & March 27), II and III; Algebra I (May 8) & II, Geometry (May 8); Biology (May 9), Chemistry, Physics; World Geography (May 10), World History (May 10), U.S. History *If there is not a date by the course, there is no test this year since only this year's 9th grade students are taking STAAR.

STAAR vs. TAKS
STAAR is a more rigorous testing program than TAKS. It emphasizes "readiness" standards, which are the knowledge and skills that are considered most important for success in the grade or course subject that follows and for college and career. STAAR will contain more test questions at most grades than did TAKS assessments. The high school assessments will move from grade-based tests to course-based exams. For the first time, the state's assessments will have a time limit. Students will have four hours to complete each exam.

Who will still take TAKS?
STAAR is being phased in so that students who were in high school before the 2011-2012 school year will still fall under the TAKS testing system. Students who are currently in 10th-12th grade still will have to pass the TAKS test to graduate from Texas City High School. All other students will take STAAR.