Houston-area STAAR scores show mixed math and reading results

Houston-area STAAR scores came back uneven across grade levels and subjects, with third- and seventh-grade math dipping in Conroe, Cy-Fair, Fort Bend, Houston and Katy ISDs even as some upper-grade reading results improved. For Harris County families, the latest state test round does not point to a clean rebound or a clean slide. It shows a patchwork, with early-grade reading still weak and middle-school results moving in different directions.

Statewide, the Texas Education Agency said Spring 2026 STAAR results for grades 3 through 8 improved in math and social studies while reading held mostly steady. Grade 4 math posted the largest statewide gain, rising 4 percentage points, and Grade 8 reading language arts climbed 3 points. Grade 7 RLA rose 2 points, but Grade 3 RLA fell 1 point. In social studies, Grade 8 increased from 30 percent to 32 percent of students meeting grade level.

The math decline in Grade 7 needs a closer read. TEA said more seventh graders than ever are taking the Grade 8 math assessment, which makes year-to-year comparisons look weaker than they are. When students are measured by their enrolled grade level instead of the test they took, the agency said the percentage meeting grade-level expectations increased across every grade level. TEA also linked part of the broader math improvement to more students taking advanced mathematics courses, a pathway expanded by 2023 legislation that can move strong elementary students into advanced middle-school math and toward Algebra I in eighth grade.

Reading showed the same split pattern seen in math. Third- and fourth-grade students struggled, but fifth-, seventh- and eighth-grade results improved in the Houston-area districts highlighted in the latest local review. TEA said the middle-school reading gains may be associated with Texas’ statewide school cell-phone ban, though it presented that only as a possible explanation. The agency has said updated science results for grades 5 and 8 will be released July 31.

Parents can review individual STAAR reports through their local district’s family portal or through Texas Assessment using a unique access code from school. The broader policy debate is unlikely to cool off, either. Duncan Klusman, a University of Houston education professor, has said high-stakes testing remains controversial because so much is tied to one test once a year, and HISD teacher Laura Henry has warned that schools can overfocus on test preparation and lose sight of broader writing skills. That debate matters in Houston, where the state took over Houston ISD in June 2023 after Wheatley High School logged seven consecutive failing ratings, and where Gov. Greg Abbott has called for lawmakers to replace STAAR altogether.