Assessment / Testing

ASSESSMENT

Harmony Public Schools (HPS) is committed to providing an educational system enabling all students to reach their full potential. The Assessment Department shares this commitment by supporting a comprehensive assessment program that includes local, state, and national assessments. The details can be accessed at the following links.

Testing Calendars:

2024-2025 TEA Assessment Calendar

2025-2026 TEA Assessment Calendar

2024-2025 HPS Assessment Calendar

STATE ASSESSMENTS

Texas’s student assessment program is designed to measure the extent to which a student has learned and can apply the defined knowledge and skills at each tested grade or course level.

Texas has offered a statewide student assessment since 1980. In the spring of 2012, Texas students began taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR and STAAR EOC) exams. The STAAR was redesigned, and the changes to the assessments were implemented in the 2022-2023 school year. The redesigned STAAR consists of the following components: new question types, online testing and accommodations, cross-curricular passages, and evidence-based writing.

Students enrolled in Texas public schools and charter schools in grades 3 through 12 are required to participate in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) program by both federal and state law. STAAR is an assessment designed to measure the extent to which students have learned and are able to apply the Texas Essential Knowledge and skills, the TEKS, of the state-required curriculum. One crucial function of STAAR is gauging how well schools and teachers prepare their students academically. The test is specifically designed to measure individual student progress concerning content directly tied to the TEKS. 

Students in grade 9 or above must take the STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments for their enrolled courses as part of their high school graduation requirements. The STAAR EOC assesses high school students for college readiness and provides performance levels that indicate a student’s mastery of the course’s standards. The EOC tests assess the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for a given course. In addition to passing courses, a score of approach grade level is required to graduate.

The state also offers the STAAR Alternate 2 assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities receiving special education services. In addition, the state provides the Texas English Language Proficiency System (TELPAS) and TELPAS Alternate assessments for Emerging Bilingual (EB) students. TELPAS assesses EB students in kindergarten through grade 12 in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

 

End-of-course assessments are offered for English I, English II, Algebra I, Biology, and U.S History.

STAAR Spanish is also available for Emergent Bilingual (EB) students in grades 3–5, for whom an assessment in Spanish provides the most appropriate measure of academic progress. It is available in Reading Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science in grades 3-5.