Parents can soon see kids’ STAAR answers

Texas among first states in nation to offer this kind of tool, agency says.

The Texas Education Agency has revamped an online portal so it will allow parents, for the first time, to see how their kids answered on the most recent administration of state standardized tests.

Starting June 30, parents of third- through eighth-grade students will be able to log on to texasassessments.com and see how their child answered on each question of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. Although high school students’ STAAR scores are available through the website now, how they answered on the test won’t be available until sometime next year, agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said. Texas is among the first states in the nation to offer this kind of tool, according to the education agency.

“The ability for each parent to view the actual STAAR questions posed to their child, along with the answers their child provided, should provide greater insight into the expectations at every grade level,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a news release Tuesday.

STAAR scores have been relatively stagnant since the test was first administered five years ago. Elementary and middle school students demonstrated mixed results this year in their performance on the first administration of Texas’ standardized tests.

STAAR math scores for fifthand eighth-grade students showed improvement, but reading scores for both grades dropped.

Education agency officials say that the portal is designed to help parents prepare students as they progress from grade level to grade level.

Each student is assigned a unique access code to view their