Texas Is Replacing STAAR — Here's What LISD Families Should Know

TITLE: Texas Is Replacing STAAR — Here's What LISD Families Should Know

The test LISD kids have been grinding through since 2012 is on its way out. Texas replaced STAAR with a new system called the Student Success Tool — SST — and it takes over starting in the 2027-28 school year. Your child still takes STAAR this year and next. But the clock is running.

Since 2012, Texas has relied on the STAAR exam as its statewide assessment. In June 2025, Governor Abbott called a special legislative session and urged lawmakers to eliminate STAAR in favor of a new system that's less high-stakes and more instructionally supportive. Both chambers passed House Bill 8 in late August 2025, and Governor Abbott signed it into law on September 17, 2025.

So what actually changes? Quite a bit, structurally. Under Senate Bill 8, starting in the 2027-28 school year, STAAR will be replaced with a new system that includes three shorter tests at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. End-of-year results will be available within 48 hours of the close of the assessment window, with same-day results for beginning- and middle-of-year assessments by the second year of implementation. Compare that to the weeks-long wait LISD families are used to. That part is genuinely better.

The drill-and-kill prep sessions? The bill prohibits practice exams to prepare students for state tests, addressing concerns of many parents who saw their children spend weeks on kill-and-drill exercises prior to STAAR, sometimes at the expense of electives and even recess. Teachers who've watched entire months swallowed by test prep have reasons to be cautiously optimistic.

High schoolers land in a different spot. High school students will only be required to take end-of-year assessments. The graduating classes of 2026 and 2027 will still be required to take the English II STAAR exam, but starting with the class of 2028, it will not be required. If you have a junior right now, your kid straddles both systems. Worth knowing.

Here's the part that should make LISD parents pay close attention. For elementary and middle schools, state letter grades are based primarily on the STAAR test. The current STAAR system will be changed by HB 8, with a new system coming for the 2027-28 school year. That means the A, B, C, D, F your school earned under STAAR will not translate cleanly to the new scoring. Lewisville ISD received a B rating for the 2024-25 school year. That B was earned under one set of rules. The rules are changing. The new score could be higher, lower, or just incomparable — and LISD leadership won't control which.

Accountability grades are not abstract. LISD already knows what a low grade triggers. The district announced it would reassign students from Mill Street Elementary after the campus received F accountability ratings in consecutive years. According to the TEA's accountability ratings report, Mill Street Elementary received an F rating three years in a row. LISD said the poor academic performance is mostly based on STAAR test scores. New benchmarks mean new pressure points. Schools that look safe right now are betting on a rulebook that doesn't exist yet.

Some lawmakers raised concerns that if the Texas Education Agency both develops the new tests and determines accountability outcomes, it could create a conflict of interest, especially in districts where the state has authority to take over underperforming schools. That concern didn't stop the bill. But it didn't disappear either.

The TEA is required to submit a full implementation plan for the SST to the Legislature by February 15, 2027. That's less than nine months before the new system goes live. LISD teachers will be retraining on unfamiliar material, curriculum may shift, and the spring 2027 testing window is essentially the last STAAR administration for grades 3-8.

The questions worth asking your school's principal right now: What does the transition plan look like for our campus? When will sample SST assessments be available? How will the district help families understand a new scoring system from scratch? Don't assume your school's current reputation carries over. New rules mean new outcomes — for better or worse, and probably both.