The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently released the Spring 2026 STAAR results for students in grades 3-8, and the results once again offer encouraging signs of progress and proof of the hard work our teachers and students are doing in Texas classrooms.   

Highlights: 

• Spring 2026 STAAR results showed gains in math and social studies. 
• Reading performance was mostly stable across grade levels, with grade 8 improving most. 
• Advanced middle school math participation has doubled since 2023. 
• Science results will be released later this summer. 
• The 3rd grade writing score results raise potential concerns on how we score the writing question. 

In a press release announcing the results, Commissioner Mike Morath said “The 2026 results demonstrate both the progress Texas students are making and the work that remains ahead of us. We are encouraged by continued gains in mathematics, especially with the growing number of students participating and succeeding in advanced mathematics courses. The gains in middle school reading are also notable, as it may be associated with the statewide ban on the use of cell phones in schools.” 

Reading Language Arts results were generally stable. Grade 8 students showed the largest improvement, with the percentage of students meeting grade level increasing by three points. Grade 7 increased by two percentage points, while grades 4-6 held steady compared to last year. Grade 3 was the only grade level to experience a decline, dropping by one percentage point.  

Math results were particularly encouraging. Grade 4 students posted the largest gain, increasing by four percentage points and surpassing pre-pandemic levels of performance. While some tested grade levels showed smaller increases and grade 7 math results appeared lower, TEA noted that this decline reflects a major increase in the number of students taking advanced mathematics courses. In fact, when student performance is analyzed by grade level rather than the specific assessment taken, the percentage of students meeting grade level increased in every grade. 

The expansion of advanced mathematics opportunities appears to be having a significant impact in our middle schools. In 2026, 32% of all 7th grade students took the Grade 8 math STAAR assessment, compared to just 16% in 2023. Texas has effectively doubled the number of middle school students participating in advanced mathematics coursework in only three years. The increase has been especially notable, according to the released data, among economically disadvantaged students, with more than 65,000 low-income 7th graders taking the 8th grade math test this year. The work of middle school math teachers and the students choosing to step up and take advanced math courses appears to be paying off. 

Social studies also showed improvement. The percentage of 8th grade students meeting grade level increased from 30% to 32%. Science results were not included in the June release because the state is conducting a standard-setting process following the implementation of new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards for science TEKS. Those results are scheduled to be released later this summer. 

These results overall show continuous improvement and reflect the hard work of our teachers and students, even while dealing with budget cuts and school closures. There is a lot for Texas public schools to be proud of this year. 

There is one key data point in particular that is worthy of scrutiny going forward. On the extended constructed response portion of the 3rd grade Reading Language Arts test, not a single student received full credit for their response. According to data available through the Texas Assessment Research Portal, approximately half of third-grade students earned zero points on the item, while the remaining students scored somewhere between 1-8 points. No student earned a score of 9-10 points. While rigorous writing expectations are important, a statewide result in which 0% of students achieve full credit, while half of students are not even awarded 1 point on a 10-point scale, raises serious questions about the design of the prompt, the scoring rubric, and whether the expectations are developmentally aligned for the grade level being tested. There are also concerns given that TEA is known to be using AI grading on open-ended questions. When we use a test for accountability purposes, it is imperative that scoring is aligned to grade level expectations. For example, while there is value in understanding where students are on a spectrum, third grade educators should not be penalized for their students not mastering 5th or 6th grade skills. It is very hard to believe that 0 percent of the state’s third graders have mastered third grade writing skills. At a minimum, these results warrant further investigation by assessment experts, educators, and policymakers. 

The 2026 scores will no doubt be a topic at an upcoming interim hearing of the House Public Education committee later this summer. As always, ATPE will provide updates here on Teach the Vote as they are available.