The majority of Texas high school students passed the math, science and history portions of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exams, with lower passage rates for the English I and English II tests, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Statewide during the 2016-2017 school year, 92 percent of students passed the U.S. history exam. The next-highest passage rates were biology – 85 percent – and Algebra I at 82 percent.
However, only 62 percent of students passed the English II exam and only 60 percent passed the English I test, TEA records show.
The end-of-course tests in these subjects are exit exams, or tests students are required to pass to receive a high school diploma.
In lower grade levels, in which tests are administered on different topics in different grades, students showed more modest passage rates.
Math and reading STAAR tests are offered in grades 3, 4, 6 and 7. In those grades, about three-quarters of third-, fourth- and sixth-graders passed the math portion, with 68 percent of seventh-graders passing the test. Passage rates for the reading tests in all four grades hovered around 70 percent.
Only 63 percent of fourth-graders and 68 percent of seventh-graders passed writing tests; 73 percent of fifth-graders and 74 perent of eighth-graders passed the science exam, and only 62 percent of eighth-graders passed their social studies STAAR exam.
Mike Smith is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. Contact him at mike.smith@actx.edu, on Twitter at @newsmithm and on Facebook.
