The STAAR test has seen a lot of changes in recent years between the addition of a writing test for Texas 3rd graders, AI grading, and new question types on top of the traditional multiple-choice questions
Despite all this change, STAAR reading test results haven’t shown much improvement — half of Texas’ 3-8th graders are not reading on grade level, a trend line that’s largely remained flat since well before the pandemic began.
How do we reverse the trend of low STAAR results and improve reading achievement for our kids overall? To find that answer, we’ll take a deeper look at current reading scores for Texas students, examine the material used to assess students’ abilities, and explore ways to catch students’ reading gaps right at the start.
STAAR Test Results — How Texas Kids Fare in Reading
Reading challenges are not unique to Texas; improving proficiency scores is a challenge for districts all across the country, as National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th grade reading assessment scores have shown us for decades. Nationally, just 33 percent of 4th graders read on grade level.
STAAR results released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) after the 2023-2024 school year show just 46 percent of Texas 3rd graders had met or mastered grade level proficiency in reading.
This has been the story for Texas 3rd graders for more than a decade, since the STARR test was introduced in 2012. Consider the scores from 2019 — one year before the pandemic. At the time, just 43 percent of 3rd graders were reading on or above grade level. Jump back another two years to the 2017 results, and 45 percent of 3rd graders were proficient readers. And so it goes, all the way back to 2012.
TEA updated the TEKS English Language Arts and Reading standards for 3rd grade in 2017, and all of the state’s primary grade teachers have attended 60 to 120 hours of Reading Academy training in the wake of 2019’s Texas House Bill 3 (HB3). Meanwhile the state made significant changes to the STAAR exam itself in 2023.
So, why aren’t reading scores improving?
What the Reading STAAR Test Measures
The culprit behind low reading scores for 3rd graders most often lies in students not mastering foundational reading skills by the end of 1st grade.
With this in mind, we need to take a serious look at when we’re measuring Texas students’ reading proficiency and what it is we are measuring.
The When of the 3rd Grade STAAR Exam
Texas begins its statewide assessments in 3rd grade, and it’s been that way for more than 40 years. Decades before the federal government began requiring states to test 3rd-8th graders on an annual basis, Texas was already testing 3rd, 5th, and 9th graders to assess their mastery of a host of skills, including reading.
Beginning with the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) in 1980, there have been five different iterations of state standardized tests, including the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (aka the STAAR). Each one has started assessing kids’ reading skills in 3rd grade.
And yet, reading experts tell us that 1st grade is the most critical year for foundational reading skills mastery. Studies show students’ 1st grade reading instruction will have a substantial impact on their reading achievement not just later in elementary school but during high school and well into adulthood.
We know that the majority of 1st graders who are on benchmark for phonics are on track to be on benchmark for all reading skills in 3rd grade. The flip side of this, of course, is that students who aren’t mastering phonics in 1st grade are more likely to need support in 3rd grade and won’t be able to access or pass a test like the STAAR.
STAAR results tell us more than half of Texas 3rd graders are in this position. This brings us to the what piece of how we are currently approaching reading assessment on the primary level and how to ensure that by the time they sit for a 3rd grade exam, they’re positioned to crush it.
The What of the 3rd Grade STAAR Exam
The STAAR test doesn’t assess foundational reading skills.
Instead, the skills Texas 3rd graders are measured on are all plucked from the TEKS ELAR standards for 3rd grade, which largely focus on reading comprehension.
For example, in order to meet grade level expectations for reading, students taking the STAAR test are expected to be able to “determine the meaning of unfamiliar and multiple-meaning words using context and affixes” and “explain literary texts by examining the roles of characters, actions, and relationships, and inferring themes supported by text evidence.”
Why There’s No Comprehension Without Foundational Reading Skills
The fundamental problem at hand is that the majority of students being tested on comprehension skills don’t yet have the skills that underpin comprehension — those skills that we consider “foundational.”
You can think of these foundational skills — which we teach in the 1st grade — a bit like the initial skills that a coach teaches first-time basketball players.
We don’t expect a young player to move a ball upcourt during a game and sink a basket. First they have to learn the mechanics of dribbling and shooting the ball to the point of mastery.
The goal is for the player to reach a point where they don’t have to concentrate their mental energy on the physical hand movements required to manipulate the ball. It takes frequent repetition to reach this point for every player, but the amount of practice varies from athlete to athlete.
When this action becomes automatic, however, it means a player’s cognitive energy is no longer being expended on ensuring these movements are properly executed. Their brain is now freed up so they can focus on the other players’ movements, navigate around them, and determine the best spot on the court from which to shoot the ball.
Learning to read works in much the same way.
Students must first learn to identify the individual letters of the alphabet and the sounds that correspond to each letter and groups of letters, along with other foundational skills like blending letter sounds together to form whole words and developing an understanding of print concepts.
These skills will at first take up a heavy mental load as students have to think each time they encounter an individual letter, and later when they encounter whole words. It takes a lot of repetition for these skills to become automatic, and the amount of practice varies from learner to learner.
Once these skills become automatic — the point in learning to read that we call fluency — the learner’s cognitive energy is also freed up. They can now focus not just on reading the words but actually deriving meaning from them.
It’s in 1st grade that students are taught to decipher the letters of the alphabet and gain an understanding of how they’re strung together to form words and then paragraphs in the English language. This process — called decoding — is what enables students to recognize and read words out loud and forms the foundation needed to establish automaticity and free up that cognitive load for comprehension work.
If a child begins 2nd grade not reading on grade level, there’s a 90 percent chance they will still be an reading well below grade level at the end of 3rd grade when it’s time to take the STAAR exam.
Why then, are we waiting until 3rd grade and focusing our assessments on comprehension?
Why don’t we focus our efforts on making sure our 1st graders master the skills that will enable them to comprehend in 3rd grade?
3rd Grade State Tests Hide Foundational Reading Skills Gaps
The content of the STAAR exam tells us that most of our 3rd graders are not meeting 3rd grade standards, but it doesn’t tell us the specific reading gaps that are holding kids back.
It’s impossible to know if questions on the STAAR exam have been answered incorrectly because a child couldn’t read the words, they couldn’t derive meaning from the words, or both.
For years, this has made it easier for those foundational skills gaps to hide, lurking beneath the surface of low reading comprehension scores and frustrating educators who want nothing more than to help their students thrive.
In an EdWeek survey in early 2024, ⅔ of educators said their 3rd-8th grade students who struggle with reading comprehension do so because they lack the foundational skills necessary to decode the text.
What District and School Leaders Can Do
If you’ve already tried myriad solutions — as many educators have — it can feel like the remedy to low reading scores will forever remain out of reach, but the science of how kids learn to read gives us a path forward.
Here are the best ways to get your 3rd graders back on track with reading plus tips to help your 1st graders now so they will be ready for that comprehension section of the STAAR in two years time.
1. Use Precise Reading Assessment Instruments
Because STAAR exam scores don’t tell us where readers need the most help, another assessment that specifically measures foundational reading skills — like mClass Texas or DIBELS — can be used to help identify if your 3rd graders indeed have not yet mastered their foundational skills.
Equally important is to use this foundational skills assessment in your kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms to identify early on whether or not a child is on track to learn to read. If they’re off track, then you can intervene on time vs. waiting till 3rd grade to learn that they cannot pass a comprehension test because they still lack basic foundational reading skills.
2. Invest in High Quality Instructional Materials & A Strong Curriculum
Investment in new reading programs and curricula is already under way in many districts across Texas in the wake of HB 1605. If you haven’t yet carefully examined both the instructional materials and curriculum that your teachers are using to teach foundational reading skills, now is the time.
Investment in standards-aligned high quality instruction materials (HQIM) that support knowledge building is key.
Alongside the investment in these materials should be adoption of a structured literacy-based skills curriculum that’s designed to provide a systematic, evidence-based approach to teaching foundational reading skills. Aligned with the Science of Reading, this will provide teachers with sequenced lessons that systematically build students’ reading skills and clear guidance on how to teach these skills.
Helpful Resources
- If you haven’t yet applied for state funding to purchase HQIM, check out the Strong Foundations Planning grant to see if your district or school qualifies.
- It’s not enough to simply invest in HQIM. Teachers may need help aligning instructional materials and ongoing coaching. Check out the Strong Foundations Implementation Supports grant to see if your district or school qualifies for additional money from TEA to cover these costs.
3. Evaluate Your Approach to Reading Interventions Across Grade Levels
Even with HQIM and strong skills instruction in Tier 1, there will be kids who are at risk of not being on benchmark in reading. This is not to say that your teachers are ineffective or students are lacking in effort.
This is simply a fact of how different kids’ brains learn to read — scientists have determined that approximately 60 percent of kids must be taught with code-based, explicit, systematic instruction, or they will not learn to read. Providing that level of instruction requires an intentional approach to intervention that’s data-driven and evidence-based so kids receive the appropriate level of instruction needed to meet their individual reading needs.
- Consider implementing a quality high-dosage tutoring program. — Since the passage of House Bill 4545 in 2021, students who perform at “Did Not Meet Grade Level” on the STAAR exam are entitled by law to free tutoring, but this intervention is arguably more critically timed for 1st graders who have been identified as reading below benchmark via beginning-of-year baseline testing or progress monitoring assessments. One-to-one, high-dosage tutoring can provide these students who are falling behind with the differentiated instruction they need to finish the school year with a full toolbox of foundational reading skills.
- Take a close look at small group instruction. — Is your small group instruction set up to group students by foundational skills need? If not, redesign the model so students will be able to receive direct instruction specific to the areas in which they need the most support.
Looking Ahead — Creating a Culture of Strong Early Literacy in Texas Schools
Addressing reading gaps in 3rd grade is critical, but a broader approach is needed to ensure future students don’t fall behind. Schools and districts can foster a culture of strong literacy that begins in the early grades and extends throughout a student’s academic journey.
This means prioritizing early identification of reading challenges, providing ongoing support for readers who aren’t reading at benchmark, and investing in the right instructional methods to start students off on the right foot.
