The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) starting in the 2011-2012 school year.

• The STAAR assessments will be more rigorous than the TAKS tests.
• STAAR will measure college readiness.
• STAAR covers grades 3 - 11.
• STAAR includes 12 end-of-course assessments at high school.
  • Under the TAKS system, high school students had to pass only four exit-level tests to graduate, which did not count toward their course grades.
  • Under STAAR, first time high school freshmen in 2011-2012 will be required to take 12 end-of-course (EOC) assessments in the core content areas – math, science, English and social studies. Fifteen percent of the EOC score will count toward the end of course grade for the corresponding class, which will be reported on the student's transcript. The other 85 percent will be determined from the classroom semester grades.

Elementary
The science assessments at Fifth Grade will emphasize the Fifth Grade curriculum standards that best prepare students for the next grades; in addition, this assessment will include curriculum standards from Grades 3 and 4 that support students’ success on future science assessments. Blueprint documents provide a description of the assessment, including the total number of items on the assessment and the number of questions from each state standard.

Fifth Grade English Assessed Curriculum | Fifth Grade Spanish Assessed Curriculum | STAAR
Fifth Grade Science Blueprint
Fifth Grade STAAR-M Science Blueprint
Fifth Grade Sample Questions from TEA | Fifth Grade Spanish Sample Questions from TEA
Griddable Item Samples from TEA
STAAR-M

Middle School
The science assessments at Eighth Grade will emphasize the Eighth Grade curriculum standards that best prepare students for Biology; in addition, this assessment will include curriculum standards from Grades 6 and 7 that support students’ success on future science assessments. Blueprint documents provide a description of the assessment, including the total number of items on the assessment and the number of questions from each state standard.

Eighth Grade Assessed Curriculum
Eighth Grade Science Blueprint
Fifth Grade STAAR-M Science Blueprint
Eighth Grade Sample Questions from TEA
Griddable Item Samples from TEA
STAAR-M

High School
On two of the science EOCs and all of the mathematics EOCs, STAAR will include a type of open-ended question known as a griddable item. The purpose of griddable items is to allow students to develop answers independently without being influenced by multiple-choice answer choices. Blueprint documents provide a description of the assessment, including the total number of items on the assessment and the number of questions from each state standard.

Biology Assessed Curriculum
Biology Blueprint
Fifth Grade STAAR-M Science Blueprint
Biology EOC Sample Questions from TEA
Griddable Item Samples from TEA
STAAR-M

Chemistry Assessed Curriculum
Chemistry Blueprint
Fifth Grade STAAR-M Science Blueprint
Chemistry Sample Questions from TEA
Griddable Item Samples from TEA
STAAR-M

Physics Assessed Curriculum
Physics Blueprint
Fifth Grade STAAR-M Science Blueprint
Physics Sample Questions from TEA
Griddable Item Samples from TEA
STAAR-M

• TEA STAAR Resources
• SAISD STAAR Resource Website