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Reading your child's score report

STAAR scores by grade: 2026 cut scores and what each level means

The scale scores that separate Did Not Meet, Approaches, Meets and Masters on the STAAR for grades 3 to 8 in math and reading, what passing does and does not mean, and how Texas did in spring 2026.

STAAR math score ranges, grades 3 to 8

STAAR reading (RLA) score ranges, grades 3 to 8

Only the cut scores are fixed. The lowest and highest possible scores, and the number of questions needed for each level, change with each year's test. In spring 2026 a 3rd grade math score could run from 860 to 2070.

What each level means

TEA's own definitions, each of which begins "Performance in this category indicates that students are".

• Masters Grade Level: "expected to succeed" in the next grade or course "with little or no academic intervention".
• Meets Grade Level: a "high likelihood of success" in the next grade or course, though some may need short-term, targeted help.
• Approaches Grade Level: "likely to succeed in the next grade or course with targeted academic intervention". This is a pass.
• Did Not Meet Grade Level: unlikely to succeed in the next grade or course without significant, ongoing help.

So Approaches is a pass, but TEA's own definition attaches targeted help to it, and its statewide reporting uses Meets as the grade-level figure. A child who passed at Approaches has passed; the report is also saying where extra support would help.

How Texas did in spring 2026

TEA publishes the share of students at each level or above. These are statewide figures for the students who sat each test.

Math

Reading (RLA)

In most of these grades roughly 4 to 6 in 10 students reach Meets or above, so a child at Approaches is in large company.

Before comparing years

• STAAR was redesigned in 2023, with new scales and standards. Scores and level shares from before 2023 do not compare with later ones.
• Texas House Bill 8 repeals and replaces STAAR from the 2027-28 school year, with beginning-, middle- and end-of-year tests in grades 3 to 8. On that timeline 2026-27 is the last year of STAAR in these grades. TEA has not published scales or cut scores for the new tests, so the tables here should not be assumed to carry over.
• A STAAR scale score does not convert to a MAP Growth RIT, an i-Ready score or any other state's test.

What to do with the result

• Read the level first, then check the scale score against your child's own grade and subject in the tables above. A number that is a pass in one grade can be a fail in the next.
• Look at the reporting categories on the report. They show which parts of the test went well and which did not, which is more use than the overall score.
• Results are on the Texas Assessment Family Portal. Districts may also run their own tests during the year, such as MAP Growth or i-Ready; those use different scales and are not STAAR results.
• If you want an independent read of exactly which skills are behind the result, Point of Progress is an at-home adaptive test for grades 3 to 10 that names each skill and builds practice from your child's own answers. It is not STAAR and is not affiliated with TEA.

Questions parents ask

Is 1500 a good STAAR score?

It depends on the grade and subject. In 3rd grade math, 1500 is Meets. In 4th grade math it is Approaches, a pass. In 5th grade math it is Did Not Meet, because the pass mark there is 1515.

If my child scored Approaches, did they pass?

Yes. TEA says students at Approaches Grade Level or higher have passed. TEA also describes Approaches as likely to succeed with targeted help, so it is worth asking the school what support is planned.

What replaces STAAR?

Under House Bill 8, three shorter tests a year in grades 3 to 8 from the 2027-28 school year. TEA has not yet published how they will be scored.

Sources and dates

Texas Education Agency, 2023-2024 STAAR Grades 3-8 Performance Standards (19 TAC 101.3041), January 2024. Cut scores checked against all 12 spring 2026 raw score conversion tables for grades 3 to 8 math and RLA: 36 of 36 agree.

Texas Education Agency, STAAR Performance Standards web page: level definitions and the pass rule. Read October 2026.

Texas Education Agency, 2026 STAAR Results, statewide summary, July 2026; and TEA news release on spring 2026 grades 3-8 results, June 16, 2026.

Texas Education Agency, Overview of House Bill 8, To the Administrator Addressed letter, October 23, 2025.

STAAR is a registered trademark of the Texas Education Agency. This page is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by TEA. Last reviewed October 2026.