STAAR ends; the Student Success Tool starts in 2027-28
House Bill 8, passed in September 2025, replaces STAAR with the Student Success Tool starting in the 2027-28 school year. TEA says the last STAAR is spring 2027 for grades 3-8 and December 2027 for end-of-course exams.
Instead of one big spring test, students take a beginning-of-year test (between the fourth Monday in August and September 30), a middle-of-year test (January 2 to February 21) and an end-of-year test (May 1-30, with the writing part of the reading test in early April). The beginning- and middle-of-year tests are adaptive. TEA expects most grade 3-4 students to finish each beginning- or middle-of-year test in 60 minutes and the end-of-year test in 90 minutes; for grades 5-8 the times are 75 and 105 minutes.
What it means for families: Spring 2027 is still a normal STAAR year. From fall 2027, your child tests three times a year, and each test covers the whole year of content.
Source: TEA: House Bill 8 Frequently Asked Questions (August 2026)
Source: TEA: School Year 2027-28 Student Assessment Testing Calendar letter (March 19, 2026)
Source: TEA: House Bill 8 student assessment page
MCAP becomes MSTAR, starting with ELA and math
The Maryland State Department of Education says 2025-26 was the last full MCAP year. Starting with the spring 2027 window (March 29 - May 28), grades 3-8 take the new Maryland System of Testing Academic Readiness (MSTAR) in English language arts and math.
MCAP high school, science and social studies tests do not change in 2026-27. In 2027-28, MSDE plans to move grade 10 ELA, Life Science, American Government, grade 5 and 8 science and grade 8 social studies to MSTAR.
What it means for families: Your grade 3-8 child takes a new ELA and math test in spring 2027. MSDE describes it as shorter than MCAP, with new online score reports for families.
Source: MSDE: 2025-26 MCAP results and the move to MSTAR (July 28, 2026)
NJSLA is now adaptive, with new cut scores
NJDOE says spring 2026 was the move to new computer-adaptive versions of the NJSLA and NJGPA, which needed new performance standards before results could be reported.
On September 9, 2026, the State Board of Education approved the NJSLA-A cut scores for five levels: Did Not Yet Meet, Partially Met, Approaching, Met and Exceeded Expectations. The cut scores are four-digit scale scores: for example, Met Expectations starts at 1446 in grade 3 ELA and 1399 in grade 3 math.
What it means for families: Because NJSLA-A is a new test with newly set cut scores, read the performance level on your child's report rather than comparing the scale number with older NJSLA reports.
Source: NJDOE: Performance Level Cut Scores Established for the NJSLA-A (September 9, 2026)
Source: NJDOE: NJSLA-Adaptive and NJGPA-Adaptive FAQs
Passing Regents exams stops being a diploma requirement
In a September 28, 2026 memo, NYSED said that from the 2027-28 school year, students graduating in January 2028 or later will earn one New York State diploma and will not have to meet separate diploma assessment requirements (the 4+1 Regents exams). Students graduating before then must meet the current requirements.
This does not end state testing. NYSED says New York is not abandoning statewide assessments: federal law still requires high school tests in ELA, math and science, and the department will develop new high school accountability tests. The 22-credit requirement stays until new competency-based requirements arrive, planned from 2029-30.
What it means for families: If your child graduates in January 2028 or later, Regents exam scores are no longer a diploma hurdle. Before that, the current rules apply. Grades 3-8 state tests are not part of this change.
Source: NYSED: Sunsetting diploma assessment requirements and moving to one diploma (September 28, 2026)
ILEARN through-year checkpoints, with new cut scores
Indiana law (HEA 1243, 2024) moved ILEARN from one end-of-year test to a through-year test: three Checkpoints during the year and a shortened summative. IDOE says 2025-26 was the first year all grade 3-8 students took it.
New cut scores, published August 11, 2026, apply to both the Checkpoints and the summative, starting with spring 2026. IDOE says the 2026 scores are a new baseline that cannot be compared with earlier years. In 2026-27, Checkpoint One runs September 14 - November 13, 2026, Checkpoint Two November 16, 2026 - February 5, 2027, Checkpoint Three February 8 - April 9, 2027, and the summative April 12 - May 7, 2027.
What it means for families: Expect test results through the year, not only in summer. Do not compare your child's 2026 ILEARN level with 2025 or earlier.
Source: IDOE: ILEARN Reporting Scale, Performance Levels, and Cut Scores (August 11, 2026)
Source: IDOE: 2025-2026 Indiana Assessment Results, State Board presentation (August 11, 2026)
Source: IDOE: 2026-2027 Indiana Assessment Windows
Four new score levels proposed, awaiting a State Board vote
The Iowa Department of Education has proposed four achievement levels for the new state summative assessment: Below, Approaching, Meeting and Exceeding Grade-Level Expectations. They would replace Advanced, Proficient and Not Yet Proficient.
Public comment ran through October 9, 2026, and the department said the final recommendation goes to the Iowa State Board of Education for consideration later this fall. Once approved, the department says the 2026 results reset the baseline for future progress. Separately, science moves from grade 10 to grade 11 in high school starting in 2026-27.
What it means for families: Your child's next Iowa report will likely use new level names. Because the baseline resets, a different level is not by itself a sign your child fell behind.
Source: Iowa Department of Education: Public comment on new proposed achievement levels (September 3, 2026)
Higher reading and math cut scores, and a temporary Pass/Approaching level
On December 11, 2025, the Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved a four-year plan for new reading and math SOL cut scores. Cut scores did not change in 2025-26; the new ones start in the 2026-27 school year.
A temporary Approaching performance level counts as passing on reading and math tests until it is phased out at the end of 2028-29. The new cut scores apply to all math SOL tests and to elementary, middle and grade 9 reading tests; students in grades 10 and 11 finishing the end-of-course reading sequence stay on the old 400 cut. Students retaking a test need the passing score in effect when they first took it.
What it means for families: A score that passed before may land in Approaching now. Approaching still passes during the phase-in, but it tells you your child is not yet at the new Proficient bar.
Source: VDOE: Board Unanimously Approves Four-year Cut Score Implementation Plan (Virginia Education Update, December 18, 2025)
Source: VDOE: Virginia Education Update, July 16, 2026 (cut scores take effect in 2026-27)
KSA drops the writing and editing and mechanics tests
The Kentucky Department of Education says that because of HB 257, the 2026-27 KSA will no longer test writing and editing and mechanics. These had been given once per grade band (elementary, middle and high school). The other content area tests stay the same.
What it means for families: Reading, math, science and social studies testing continues as before. Writing is still taught; it just is not on the state test.
Source: Kentucky Department of Education: Kentucky Summative Assessment
State tests move to the last four weeks of each district's year
The Oklahoma State Department of Education's final 2026-27 testing calendar lists grades 3-8 ELA and math and grade 5 and 8 science as online tests given in "the last four weeks of your district's instructional calendar," per HB 4359 (2026). There is no single statewide date range any more.
What it means for families: Your child's test dates depend on your district's last day of school. Check the district calendar and count back four weeks.
Source: OSDE: FINAL 2026-2027 Testing Calendar
Fewer grades take LEAP science and social studies; new high school exams
In 2026-27, every grade 3-8 student still takes grade-specific LEAP science and social studies tests. From 2027-28, social studies is tested only in grades 3 (K-3 content), 5 (grades 4-5) and 8 (grades 6-8). For science, only grades 4 and 7 test in 2027-28; from 2028-29, grade 4 covers K-4 and grade 7 covers grades 5-7.
In high school, new comprehensive exams replace LEAP English I and II and Algebra I and Geometry. Students entering high school in 2026-27 or later take them in the spring of their second year, and must pass both the ELA and math comprehensive exams to graduate.
What it means for families: In spring 2027 some grade 3, 5 and 8 social studies questions and grade 4 and 7 science questions may cover earlier grades; LDOE says these field-test questions do not count. A current ninth grader faces the new graduation exams.
Source: LDOE: LEAP Assessment Guide for Social Studies Grades 5-8 (August 2026)
Source: LDOE: LEAP Assessment Guide for Grade 6 Science (July 2026)
Source: LDOE: Comprehensive Exams FAQ (February 2026)