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Hays CISD high school students outperformed state averages on the 2025 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, but other students at the elementary and middle school level fell behind in subjects such as math and reading.
Results for the 2025 STAAR were released June 17.
The breakdown
The STAAR is given to third through 12th grade students to measure student progress and teacher performance.
Students can receive scores of “did not meet grade level.” “approaches grade level,” “meets grade level,” or “masters grade level” for each subject. Students who score “approaches grade level” and above pass the test. Those who score “meets grade level” or above are considered proficient, as previously reported by Community Impact.
At the high school level, both economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students performed at or above state averages of “approaches grade level.”
HCISD students also outperformed state averages in subjects, including but not limited to:
Additionally, students who took the Spanish STAAR exams fell at or below both the state level and district-wide level in areas such as but not limited to:
Looking back
HCISD STAAR results showed some improvements from 2024 scores in subjects such as middle school reading and some sciences.
Other results show loss in performance in subjects such as elementary-level math and reading exams. Additionally, some high school end-of-course exams saw lower performances compared to 2024 HCISD results, despite outperforming state averages this year.
What they’re saying
HCISD trustees discussed the STAAR results at a board meeting June 23. Trustee Johnny Flores said while there are both highlights and “areas to grow” in STAAR performance, the scores do not reflect a student’s academic success.
“This does not measure one's intelligence ... and is in no way a measure of anyone's potential,” he said. “I hope that kids are keeping that in mind, and I know that we're going to make continuous improvements.”
Zooming out
Texas elementary students saw gains in reading, while middle school performance remained stable and high schoolers showed small declines, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Statewide, about 54% students grades third through eighth and at high school level met grade level or above in reading and language arts, according to STAAR data. About 43% met grade level or above in math.
However, despite progress in some subjects, state officials are hoping to see bigger strides in improvements.
“With [reading and language arts] scores now surpassing pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing meaningful signs of academic recovery and progress,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said in a June 17 news release. “While this year also saw some improvements in math, clearly more work is needed.”
Learn more
Families can access their children’s STAAR results at www.texasassessment.gov.
For more statewide data, view the Texas Education Agency’s 2025 STAAR Results report here and state reporting from Community Impact.
For information on how other local school districts performed, visit www.communityimpact.com or subscribe to local newsletters.
Hannah Norton and Chloe Young contributed to this reporting.
